In my Fathers Shadow
by la harlequin
Summary: Do you know what it’s like to grow up knowing your father is a murderous death eater who delivered his best friends right into Voldemort’s outstretched hands? My name is Arianna Lillian Black, and I know that scenario all to well. Sirius' Daughter fic!
1. The visitor

Chapter one- Introductions

_Do you know what it's like to grow up knowing your father is a murderous death eater who delivered his best friends right into Voldemort's outstretched hands? My name is Arianna Lillian Black, and I know that scenario all to well._

_You think that's traumatizing? Try knowing just how similar you are to said father. That's right, I have his temper, his arrogance, his love for trouble and his eyes. No-ones actually told me these things outright, of course. Oh no, they're all to 'nice' for that, but between my heartbroken mother practically bursting into tears every time she looks me in the eye, sad glances from 'old friends' of mums every time I start shouting and my incredibly useful talent for listening at doorways, how could I not know?_

_The one good thing about my dad, as far as I'm concerned, is that he doesn't know I exist. Mum didn't find out she was pregnant until about a month after 'the event'. When she did find out, she turned and ran away to Australia where her parents lived, and that's where I was born. Mum still gets visits from her 'old friends' and her, without exception, bawls her eyes out every time. Bloody hosepipe of a woman my mother is. Don't get me wrong, I love mum and our life here in Australia, but sometimes I wish she'd just stop living in the past and get on with the present._

_Mum's a healer's assistant at Wesley Hospital for Magical maladies and injuries and I'm a day student at Holcraft Academy for witchcraft and wizardry. I don't have many friends. It's not that people don't like me; it's just that I don't trust people easily. Not surprising with my background. I just have two close friends. Kayla Robson and Paige Williams. Kayla is a lot like me in personality, but in looks, she couldn't be more different. I am tall, Kayla is short, I am lightly tanned, she has a dark tan, I have dirty-blonde hair, her's is chocolate brown, I have blue-grey eyes, Kayla's are hazel. Kayla is my partner in crime. Pulling pranks, sneaking out and topping our classes without even touching a book? Yep, that's Kayla and me. Paige is the more sensible, studious one in our group. 'The voice of reason amongst the insanity,' as she often likes to call herself. Paige has gotten us out of trouble more time than I can count. She's a prefect and a damn good liar. Kay and I would have been expelled a hundred times over if it wasn't for Paige._

_Mum get's home late most nights. The only times she's ever home for dinner is if one of her 'old friends' is coming over, so most of the time I eat alone. I don't mind much. I like the privacy._

Arianna looked up from her writing as the doorbell rang. 'Strange,' she thought, grabbing her wand, 'We're not expecting anyone. Mum apparates home and Kay and Paige never bother knocking.' Her hand clenched tightly around her wand as she opened the door. Standing there was a tired looking man with sandy-blonde hair and grey eyes. He looked around mid-thirties but the lines on his face indicated that he had seen things beyond his years. "Hello," he said in a thick British accent, "You must be Arianna. My name is Remus Lupin. I'm an old friend of your mothers. I wonder if I could come in." Arianna just stared.


	2. Reactions

A/N: Okay here's chap 2! Enjoy! Thanks for the positive feedback from The Simon Cowell of FFnet, marykaitlyn and Reader4ever, my only 3 reviewers! glares and throws sharp pointy things at everybody who didn't review anywayz plz review and let me know if its worth continuing this story.

Chapter two- Reactions

Arianna couldn't think straight. She just stood there staring. _'Remus Lupin… The only one of dad's friends who wasn't murdered, but his life was ruined none-the-less. Why is he here? He's never come before! How can he just stand there? He's standing right in front of the flesh and blood of the traitor and he's not yelling! He's not hexing me into an early grave! He's just standing there…' _Arianna's thoughts whirled through her mind in a jumble of activity. 'Mu-mum's not home.' She finally managed to stutter out awkwardly. Remus gave her a pained smile. 'Actually I wanted to talk to you alone. I need to explain a few things to you before I tell your mother. I may need help convincing her of some… recent developments we've come across.'

Arianna nodded dumbly and stepped aside, allowing Remus access to the small house she and her mother shared.

Arianna lead Remus into the small living room. She spotted her diary sitting, still open at the page she had been writing at, on the table. She quickly slammed it shut and stuffed it into her book bag. She didn't want anyone to see that. It was stupid really. Just some book she's gotten for Christmas and hadn't used, until today. 'Uhh... Do you want a drink or something? We have water, juice, coke…'

'Water would be fine thank-you.'

Once they were both comfortably sitting in the cosy living room, Lupin spoke.

'There's no point tiptoeing around the subject, Arianna. I came here to talk to you about Sirius.' Arianna winced at the sound of her father's name, but quickly recovered. 'What about him?' she snapped. Remus gave a small smile. 'He's innocent.'

'WHAT?' Arianna jumped to her feet, painfully banging her knees on the coffee table.

'Arianna, please listen! It was Pe-' But he was cut off.

'You come into my house and try to convince me that a DEATH EATER is innocent! You're probably one of them as well aren't you!'

'Arianna, please listen to me-'

'Get out of my house! GET OUT!' At this, the coffee exploded, sending shattered glass flying everywhere. Lupin seemed to realise he wasn't going to get her to listen, at least not today because he quickly repaired the table with a flick of his wand and turned to leave.

'If you ever decide to listen to what I have to say, Arianna, your owl will know where to find me.' And with that he disapparated out of the apartment.

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'What did you do at school today, sweetie?' Arianna and her mother were eating dinner. It was the day after Lupin had come and Arianna had resolved not to tell her mother about what had happened. It would make things a lot easier if she just refused to acknowledge that the incident had occurred.

'Detention.' Arianna muttered in reply to her mother's question.

'Me and Kay got busted dungbombing Malfoy's locker.'

'I wish you would leave that poor girl alone.' Replied Anna-May in a disapproving voice, 'What has she ever done to you?'

'She's always badmouthing muggleborns and strutting around like she owns the place. Someone has to take her down a notch every once in a while.

'Maybe, but you, Kayla and Paige seem to think that every once in a while is every second day.' Arianna shrugged.

'Someone has to do it. Tomorrow we're gonna turn that 'perfect' blonde hair of hers bright blue.' Anna-May sighed.

'Oh Ari, what am I going to do with you?'

'Love me.' Arianna said with a cheeky grin. Her mother gave her a tired smile.

'I have to be at work early tomorrow so I'm going to bed. Can wash up?'

'Sure mum.' Arianna hugged her mum and gave her a kiss on the cheek before standing up and beginning to clear the table.'

'Thanks sweetie.'

Ari had been cleaning up for about ten minutes when she noticed a something red and gold sitting on the window sill. She turned around to realise she was facing a phoenix.

'Shit.' She thought to herself, 'Those are really rare, and they're definitely not native to Australia.' It was then that she noticed the phoenix was carrying a letter. She cautiously approached the bird which dropped the envelope it was carrying, but didn't fly away. 'It must be waiting for an answer.' Thought Ari before grabbing the envelope and tearing it open. The letter read like this:

_Dear Miss Black,_

_My name is Albus Brian Percival Dumbledore and I am the current headmaster of Hogwarts Academy for witchcraft and wizardry in England. I was Also headmaster when your parents were receiving their education here. I believe that two days ago you met with an associate of mine, mister Remus Lupin. He tried to discuss an issue with you but could not continue his explanation due to unknown circumstances. I would like to explain matters to you more clearly. I hope you will be able to give me a few hours of your time tomorrow. If you give your consent I will come to your school tomorrow and speak to your head of house and see if I can't get you out of a few afternoon lessons. Please send your reply with Fawkes, my phoenix._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc.,Ch. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Arianna looked up from the letter, seething with anger. These people dared to contact her again. They really had to get it through their thick heads that she was NOT going to believe the crap they were trying to sell her. 'Okay,' Arianna thought to herself, 'I'll meet this Dumbledore person tomorrow and tell him exactly what I think of him.' She thought angrily. She quickly scrawled a letter of consent and gave it to Fawkes, who sped off into the night. Arianna stood at the open window, watching him go, all thoughts of cleaning up forgotten.


	3. Malfoy

A/N: This is just a fun little chapter. Hope you like it. Please Read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 3 – Lorena Malfoy

'Okay…go….NOW!' The blue light shot out of Paige's wand and hit Lorena Malfoy in the back of the head. The effect was as if an egg had hit her and its insides were slowly spreading over her head. Bit by bit, Malfoy's hair slowly turned a bright electric blue. Paige and Kayla cracked up. Paige had to lean against her locker for support and Kayla slid to the floor because she was laughing so hard. I forced a smile. That Dumbledore person was supposed to be coming to in about ten minutes, when lunch ended, and needles to say I was slightly distracted. Lorena whipped around, her now blue hair flying behind her as she stormed over to where we were standing. She ignored Paige and Kay and came straight up to me.

'I know you did this, Black. When my father-'

'What's daddy gonna do this time, Malfoy?' Kayla growled, jumping to her feet.

'Yeah, Malfoy,' I spoke up, 'you've been threatening us about Daddy for 5 years, and we haven't seen any results yet. Nice hair, by the way. 'Lorena glared at me.

'I'm going to go get Professor Rafferty and you three will be in detention for the rest of the year!' She stormed off, just as the bell rang.

'Oh well, better get to charms.' Paige picked up her bag and waited for Kay and me while we hurriedly grabbed books out of our lockers. How she stays so organised is beyond me. When we finally got all our books together, we rushed downstairs to our charms classroom. Only two minutes late. That's got to be a record for us. Rafferty wasn't even there yet, probably because she was still talking to Malfoy. At that moment, professor Rafferty stormed into the room, followed by Malfoy. Malfoy smirked at us and took her usual seat in the front row. Rafferty glared round the classroom and her eyes stopped on Kay, Paige and Me.

'Robson, Williams, Black,' she barked 'Can I see you outside for a minute.'

'Of course, Professor Rafferty.' We chorused in union, the well practiced innocent looks plastered on our faces. Once we got outside, Rafferty shut the classroom door and turned to us.

'Miss Malfoy tells me you three turned her hair blue, during the lunch hour. Would you care to explain yourselves. Me and Kay looked to Paige, the cover story legend.

'Well you see, professor, we were just practicing the colour-changing charms you set for homework, Arianna accidentally hit Lorena with one of her spells when she tripped over a book someone had dropped. We apologised to her immediately but she refused to listen to us and stormed off to see you.'

Rafferty eyed her suspiciously and then turned to Kayla and Me.

'Is this true?' We both nodded. As if we'd say no.

'Okay. You two can return to class,' she said to Kay and Paige, 'I need a private word with Miss Black.' The other two sent me curious looks and then walked back into the classroom. Rafferty waited until they were gone before saying, 'There is a man waiting for you in reception. He says you are expecting him. One Albus Dumbledore? British man?' I nodded.

'You are excused from classes for the rest of the day, but make sure you catch up and get the homework from one of your friends.'

'Sure, Professor.'

'Run along now.' I grabbed my bag and walked quickly towards the office.

A/N: So what did you think? Please review and let me know!


	4. Albus Dumbledore

A/N: Chapter 4 already! I only posted chapter three earlier today! Big thankyou and hugs and kisses to marykaitlin, my only reviewer from last chapter so far. Consider this chapter dedicated to you! Anywayz… on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 4 – Albus Dumbledore

Arianna walked into her school office and glanced around. She couldn't see anybody who could possibly be Dumbledore. In fact, the office was deserted except for Arianna herself and the clumsy receptionist, who was currently busy filing her nails. She looked up.

'Looking for someone, dear?' She asked Arianna, her eyebrows raised.

'I just came to see how my favourite person in the world was faring with the harsh reality that is life.'

'Okay Black out with it. What do you want?'

'Why Miss Stinson! You assume the worst of me! Do you really think I would have an ulterior moti-'

'I believe she is looking for me.' Arianna was cut off by a voice coming from somewhere behind her. She whirled around. Standing there was the strangest looking person she had ever seen, even in the magical world. He was tall with a long white beard, long enough to tuck into a belt if he wanted to. He wore robes of a deep purple with white stars and had strange, twinkling blue eyes.

'I presume you are Arianna Black?'

'I presume you are Albus Dumbledore?' Arianna tried to glare but she found it a difficult task. Those eyes were unnerving.

'Why don't we go somewhere more private to talk?' He said to her, a faint smile on his lips.

'Fine,' Arianna agreed stiffly, 'We'll go to my place.'

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

'You apparate, I'll walk. The address is 73 Wattletree rd.'

Dumbledore shook his head, 'If it's all the same to you, I'd rather walk.'

'Fine. But keep up. I'm not waiting.'

The receptionist watched this exchange with a bewildered look on her face. Apparently they'd never met before, but Arianna Black turned on the charm for everyone, well, everyone except Lorena Malfoy. She must have a very good reason to dislike this person. She stared after them with curiosity as they walked out the door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Over the fence, through the Renton's yard, under the gate, cut through the park… _

Arianna's heart bwas pumping as she hurtled through the streets at breakneck speed to get home. 'That old loser thinks he can keep up with the great Arianna Black, he's gonna pay for it.' She though to herself as she dodged a kid on a bike. She jumped the last fence and landed in her back yard. She strolled round the front triumphantly, only to find Albus Dumbledore sitting on her front step.

'I thought you said you weren't apparating.' She growled at him. How dare he! She had just run 2 k in about 4 and a half minutes flat, and he doesn't even have the decency to try and look humiliated and defeated!

'I didn't apparate, Miss Black, I walked, as I informed you I would be doing.'

'Yeah, sure you did…' Arianna muttered to herself as she turned her key in the lock and walked into the house. She dumped her school bag near the front door and plonked herself down at the dining room tale. A few seconds later Dumbledore joined her. Before she even had a chance to open her mouth, Dumbledore spoke.

'Now Arianna, I realise that the only reason you agreed to meet with me today is so that you could tell me exactly what you thought of me and throw me out on my rear end, but I beg you listen to what I have to say.'

Arianna blinked. 'Wow.' She though to herself, 'This guy is good.'

She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms in front of her chest.

'Okay,' she said, meeting his eye, 'Talk.'

Not at all put off by the coldness in her voice, Dumbledore started his explanation.

'I believe you are familiar with the story of the Potters and their secret keeper?' He was answered with a cold stare, but he took this as an affirmative answer.

'Well it turns out, the secret keeper was not who we thought it was originally. The secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew, Not Sirius Black.'

Arianna's eyes flashed dangerously.

'Impossible. HE was the secret keeper, not Pettigrew. HE murdered Pettigrew.' She spoke in a low voice, but her tone made it clear she was about to lose her temper.

'Sirius Black was the Potters secret keeper originally, but later, it was changed to Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius acted as a decoy. Not even I knew about the change.'

'So Pettigrew was a death eater and blew himself to smithereens in that street full of muggles?' Arianna said sarcastically.

'No. He merely transformed. Peter Pettigrew is an animagus. A rat. He murdered all those poor muggles and left Sirius to take the blame.'

'Wait a minute. So you're telling me there is a traitorous murderer on the loose and an innocent man is has been rotting in Azkaban?'

'Yes.'

'I don't believe you.' The anger and bitterness were gone from her voice now and she just stared simply at Dumbledore, her face expressionless.

'Tell me this again under veritiserum and I'll believe you.'

Dumbledore smiled at her.

'Fair enough, but I don't have any veritiserum on me.'

'I have some.' For the first time that day Dumbledore looked surprised.

'How is it that a fifteen year old girl has possession of a potion controlled strictly by the ministry of magic?'

'The ministry are idiots who should put extra security on their potions cabinets.'

She smirked and vanished out of the room, returning moments later with a small glass vial of a clear liquid. She handed it to Dumbledore who downed it in one gulp.

A/N: What did you think of chapter 4? Plz review! I Don't get many reviews… Sob…


	5. Weakness

A/N: Chapter 5 Already? Wow! I really have been updating a lot lately! Anyway PLEASE review if you like this chapter, if you don't like it, If you really don't like it…. JUST REVIEW! This chapter is slightly longer than usual so don't I at least deserve a few reviews?

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 5 - Weakness

_How is it possible that in one day, my entire life can get turned upside down? Yesterday I was happy. I had mum, my friends, school, EVEN MALFOY! But no, I'm not allowed to live a normal life. I swear I must have majorly pissed off some god or another in a past life, cos someone up there really hates me. When mum found out, she reacted pretty much as I expected. She cried. I'm not really sure if she was happy, sad or angry. She just cried. I don't get why she's crying though. I'm the one who should be bawling my eyes out. They are uprooting my entire life and shipping me off to England so I can meet some total stranger who just happens to share the same genetics as me. I'm not staying though. They can't keep me there. As soon as I can get my hands on a portkey I'll be back in Australia. If Azkaban can't hold my so-called father, England can't hold me. I'll stay with Kay or Paige, or maybe Grandma. Apparently she never liked dad even before he 'turned evil' so chances are she won't send me back to him. Speaking of Kay and Paige, I still have to tell them I'm leaving. That's a conversation I'm not looking forward to. Chances are, Kayla will storm out and refuse to talk to me, and Paige will cry. We're leaving in three days. I have to tell them soon… Maybe tomorrow…_

Arianna sighed as she slammed her diary shut and lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was going to miss this room. This house. This neighbourhood. This country. She rolled over onto her stomach and glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table. 7:28 pm. She had better go see her mum and see how she was dealing with all of this. After all, she'd only found out an hour ago. She jumped off her bed and strolled out of her room. She found her mother at the kitchen table looking through a dusty old photo album, silent tears streaming down her face. Arianna looked down at the photo her mother was currently staring at. It was worn, faded and torn a little at the edge, but it was still perfectly clear what was in the photo. Or rather, WHO was in the photo. There were six youths, all waving and grinning happily at the camera. On the far left was a younger version of Remus Lupin. Arianna felt slightly guilty. She'd been so rude to him. She'd even gone so far as to accuse him of being a death eater. Standing next to Remus, were unmistakably, James and Lily Potter, or Lily Evans as she would have been known when this picture had been taken. Their faces were familiar to her. She'd seen plenty of pictures of the Potters before. On the far side of Lily was Anna-May Morgan, Arianna's mother, but the difference in her was apparent. Her hair, which was now streaked prematurely with grey, was a shining, dirty-blonde. Her hazel eyes had not yet lost their spark. Standing next to Anna was – Arianna felt a wave of hatred wash over her – Peter Pettigrew, and on the on the far right was…

'Mum,' Arianna choked out, 'that's him isn't it.' She pointed her finger at the last person in the picture. He was tall with ebony-black hair that fell to just above his shoulders and his blue-grey eyes had a mischievous twinkle. Apart from the colour of his hair, his obvious gender and his slightly paler skin, he was a carbon copy of Arianna herself.

'Yes.' Anna-May smiled up at her daughter, 'That is Sirius Black, your father, Ari.'

Arianna fel the tears start to fall down her face, but she furiously wiped them away. 'I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry.' She thought to herself. Arianna felt her mother pull her into a hug.

'There, there, its ok,' She soothed, 'I know you've been trying to be strong through all of this, but you have to cry sometime. It's only natural.'

Arianna hurriedly pulled herself out of her mothers grip.

'Natural for you, maybe.' She said coldly, and ran out of the kitchen, and out of the house. Anna-May helplessly watched as her daughter ran away from her, away from comfort.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arianna hadn't cried since she was six years old. To her, it had always seemed a sign of weakness, and she never wanted to show weakness. When she broke her leg when she was eight, she hadn't cried. When her beloved dog had died when she was ten, she hadn't cried. When Malfoy found out who her father was and had spread it around the school, she hadn't cried. But there she sat, fifteen years old, in a public park, sobbing uncontrollably. Her sobs were so loud, that she didn't hear the dark figure sneaking up behind her. She didn't notice the wand that was slowly being aimed at the back of her head. She didn't hear the quiet whisper from behind her, '_Stupefy._' But at the exact moment the spell would have hit her, she dropped her head, burying it in her hands, and the stunner flew over her head. It hit a nearby tree with a small bang, and the tree exploded into flames. Arianna whipped around, plunging her hand into the pocket of her school uniform, searching desperately for her wand. She found it just as another curse was thrown at her. She dived out of the way and the curse missed her by inches.

'_STUPEFY!_' She screamed, pointing her wand, in the direction the last curse had originated from. '_STUPEFY! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!_' But she heard running footsteps, and knew that she had missed. She threw herself behind a tree just as another stunner came flying at her. The curse hit the tree she was sheltering behind. She was thrown backwards as the tree exploded and her wand was knocked out of her hand. She began to frantically search the ground around her, but she couldn't find her wand anywhere. She heard someone running up to her, and then felt the wind get knocked out of her as something slammed into her chest. The barstad had kicked her.

'Well, well, well. What do we have here?' Sneered a cold voice from the figure above her.

'Wouldn't you like to know.' She sneered back, glaring up at the dark figure above her. She received a kick in the stomach for her trouble. She felt herself being dragged upwards and realised that her attacker was holding her up by the scruff of the neck.

'Tell me your name brat.' He hissed at her.

'Why don't you tell me yours?' She shot back. She heard cruel laughter surrounding her and realised that more of them had apparated. She felt herself being thrown back to the ground. She landed on something sharp was about to cry out in pain when she realised what it was. Her wand.'

'Time to loosen your tongue, brat.' The cold voice sneered from above her.

'Cruci-'

'STUPEFY!' A completely different voice roared. Arianna rolled out of the way and snatched up her wand just in time to avoid being flattened by the stunned death eater. She immediately started firing curses left rand right at the death eaters who had been surrounding her. They had been standing in a tight circle around her, so they were easy targets. She allowed herself a small grin of satisfaction as she heard several thumps that signified she had hit her targets.

Arianna glanced around to see who her saviour was, and saw Mrs. Robson, Kayla's mum, duelling with three death eaters at once. She was about to rush over and help when she felt someone grab her by the neck of her robes. She whirled around and punched the person square in the nose.

'Ow! Ah, shit, Ari, I think you broke my nose!' Arianna stopped herself from punching the person again, just in time. She recognised this person. Kayla.

'Oh, Shit! I'm sorr- Wait! What the hell are you doing here?' She whispered to her friend.

'Mum and Me heard shouting and saw a lot of stunners from our house. She told me to stay while she went to sort it out, but obviously, I came.'

'You shouldn't have come! You'll only get – Kay! Behind you!' They both ducked as another stunner flew over their heads. The offending death eater was trying to conceal himself behind a tree, but he was quite large, so it wasn't difficult to see him. Kayla and Arianna gave each other a hurried nod before they jumped up and started shooting stunners at the death eater. The last thing Arianna saw that night was the death eater falling as a stunner hit him, then, a curse hit her in the back of the neck, and everything went black.

A/N: Ohhhhhh! Cliff-hanger! Anyway I'll update soon but I want some reviews! Please?


	6. Hospitals and Tears

A/N: Still not many reviews! Tut, tut! Anyway, heres chapter 6. I'm writing this at eleven o'clock at night but I don't think I'll Post till tomorrow morning, cos I haven't got any reviews from last chap yet!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 6 – Hospitals and Tears

Arianna woke with a pounding headache and aching limbs in a familiar room. The hospital wing at Holcraft Academy for witchcraft and wizardry.

'What the hell am I doing here?' She thought to herself, 'The last thing I remember is – Oh shit!' She tried to sit up but immediate pain shot through her head like wildfire. She desperately looked around the room as much as possible from her lying-down position.

'Kay, Mrs Robson!' She thought desperately, 'If either of them got hurt because of me…'

At that moment, the school nurse came out of her office. She glanced around and noticed Arianna was awake, and immediately headed over to her.

'Oh good, you're awake.' She said briskly, 'You gave us all quite a scare, Miss Black. That was a nasty curse you were hit with.' Arianna just waved it off.

'Yeah, well I'm fine. Where are Kayla and her mum? Are they okay? Did they get hurt?' she asked anxiously.

'They are both fine. From what I hear, after you were hit, Miss Robson managed to hold off any remaining Death Eaters while her mother got the situation under control.' Arianna sighed with relief. Neither of them was hurt. But there were still several questions nagging at the back of her mind.

'Do you know why the death eaters attacked me? And why am I here? Why not an actual hospital?' The matron sighed.

'You were in pretty bad shape, Miss Black. You were brought here because it was unlikely you would have survived a longer journey.' Arianna felt herself going pale. She had really been hurt that badly?

'As for why they attacked you, I honestly have no idea. You will have to speak to the aurors about that. They were wishing to speak with you as soon as you woke up, but I told them over my dead body were they speaking to you so soon after being hit with that curse.' Arianna smiled at the old nurse gratefully.

'Thanks for that. Can I see my mum? Or my friends? What time is it anyway?'

'It's about two-thirty in the afternoon, 29th of August. You were out for two days. Your mother has been sitting with you ever since you were brought here, she just left to get a coffee.' Arianna's jaw dropped. Two days?

'What about my friends? Can I see them?' The old matron gave a faint smile.

'Miss Robson and Miss Williams both wanted to stay with you, but their parents and the headmaster insisted that they go to their classes. It got to the point where they both had to be physically removed from your presence.' Arianna grinned. She could imagine Kayla and Paige having to be dragged away screaming their heads off. She racked her brains.

'Hmm… 2:30 Thursday... They'll be in Potions right now. I doubt they'd hate to miss that. Can you call them up here?' The matron rolled her eyes.

'Alright. Your mother will be back in a minute too.'

'Awesome. Thanks Miss Ransom.'

'Anything for my most frequent patient.' She called as she disappeared into her office. Ten seconds later, Arianna heard her voice over the magical intercom.

'Kayla Robson and Paige Williams, report to the hospital wing. Robson and Williams to the hospital wing.'

About three and a half minutes later, 2 blurred shapes rushed into the hospital wing and flung themselves on Arianna.

'Oi! Guys! I'm in pain here! Just cos I'm awake doesn't mean I'm completely cured!' The other two hastily got off her and sat down in two of the chairs beside the bed. It took Arianna a few moments to realise they were both crying.

'What's wrong?' she asked them confusedly.

'It's just that whe- when that curse hit y-you I thought… I thought…' Kayla trailed off and burst into fresh wave of tears.

'Kay called me as soon as they brought you here.' Paige said quietly, tears streaming down her face, 'There was this huge cut along the back of your neck and it wouldn't stop bleeding…We were all so worried.' Arianna looked down at her hands. It was uncomfortable to hear people talk about her like that. She was about to say something but she was cut off when another blurred shape rushed into the room and engulfed Arianna in a hug.

'Oh, Ari! I was so worried about you! I should never have let you run off like that! Oh I'm a horrible mother!'

'Mum! I'm fine, just a little sore! Can you get off me now?' But Anna-May didn't let go.

'Oh I'm a terrible mother! Social Services are going to take you away from me! And just when we were going to be a real family again as well!' Paige shot Kayla a confused look, but she just shrugged. Probably just the hysterical ravings of a worried mother. Then she realised that Arianna was wincing under her mothers grip, and decided to step in.

'Ah... Mrs Black? Ari's still abit sore right now, so hugging her like that probably isn't the best idea.' Anna-May immediately jumped back.

'Oh I'm so sorry sweetie! Did I hurt you?'

'No mum, I'm fine.' She sighed with relief, and then turned to Paige and Kayla.

'Girls, do you mind if I have a moment alone with my daughter?'

'Not at all, Mrs Black. We'll just go find Miss Stinson. She always has some variety of sugar stashed in her office. Oh, Penny dearest!' Arianna grinned as she watched Kayla drag Paige over to the nurse's office, and then she turned her attention back to her mother.

'What did you need to talk to me about?'

'Well, I've talked to Penny, and she seems to think you'll be able to travel by portkey tomorrow, as long as you get plenty of rest after we arrive.'

Arianna felt her stomach lurch. She had completely forgotten that tomorrow was the day they were due to be leaving. The entire reason that they had to leave so soon was because Anna-May wanted Ari to start at Hogwarts on the same day as everybody else. She was leaving the country tomorrow and she hadn't even told her best friends yet. Granted, she wasn't really given much of a chance to tell them, but still! It just wasn't fair. Anna seemed to notice her daughters crest-fallen face, but misinterpreted it completely.

'Don't worry sweetie. I'm sure he'll like you!'

'No mum, it's not that, it's just that... I still haven't told Kayla and Paige I'm leaving. I'll miss them so much!' Anna looked surprised.

'It's ok sweetie! They can still come for visits and you'll make heaps of new friends at Hogwarts!'

'It won't be the same.' Anna didn't say anything. She just sat quietly, looking at her daughter's miserable face. Finally she stood up.

'You had better tell them. The sooner the better. Do you want me to go get them now?' Arianna nodded silently. Anna disappeared into the nurse's office and a few minutes later her friends emerged.

'Your mum said you wanted to talk to us.' Paige said as they sat down. Ari nodded, took a deep breath and began.

'You guys know about my dad right?' Paige and Kay shot each other nervous glances. Ari almost never talked about her dad.

'Well… He's innocent.' Kayla's and Paige's mouths dropped open.

'Who's been feeding you this shit?' Kayla demanded, suddenly angry, 'I'll beat the crap out of them! I'll – '

'No! Kay, it's really true!' She proceeded to tell them all about her visit from Lupin, her meeting with Dumbledore, and finally, the decision her mother had made. Paige had been sitting quietly through the whole thing, staring at her hands. Kayla's face had been growing whiter with every word Arianna spoke, and with the last announcement, she jumped to her feet.

'How can they do this to you? To us? To everybody! Without even a weeks notice they're just moving your whole life? This just isn't fair!' She turned and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Arianna watched her go, a look of grim sadness on her face.

'She has every right to be mad, you know.' Arianna jumped. With Kayla's dramatic departure, she'd almost forgotten Paige was still there.

'She gets one days notice that her best friend is walking out of her life. It isn't fair, Arianna.' And with that, Paige jumped up and followed Kayla out of the room. Arianna stared after her. She hadn't been expecting that. Paige was one of the hardest people in the world to predict at times. Ari vaguely realised she was crying again. This was getting to become more frequent.

Anna stuck her head out of the nurse's office and noticing that her daughters friends were gone, headed over to Arianna's bed.

'How did it go?' She asked gently, placing a hand on Ari's shoulder.

'Just great mum.' She snapped back, 'Just leave me alone!' She rolled over and determinedly clamped her eyes shut. She just wanted to sleep. Being conscious just hurt too much right now.

A/N: Chapter six finitio with chapter 7 on the way! WOOHOO! Please review! The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update!


	7. A new world

A/N: Okay, Please don't kill me, I know I haven't updated in a while but there are two good reasons why! 1. I don't want to spend my entire holidays writing fan fiction, and 2. I only got two reviews for last chapter! You want faster updates, then review! Okay, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 7- A new world

Arianna grumbled to herself as she took one last look around her now empty room, before storming out and slamming the door behind her.

'Stupid mother… Stupid friends… Stupid Dumbledore.'

She had barely spoken to anyone since the incident in the hospital wing yesterday afternoon. Anna-May was confused at her daughter's behaviour. She had though that she would be thrilled to go to England and meet her father, but Arianna was acting like she didn't want the chance to be part of a proper family again. She was acting just plain ungrateful!

Paige and Kayla had both called to apologise for storming out, but the conversation had been stiff, forced and unfriendly; nothing like their usual happy, joking conversations. Kayla especially had talked in a manner that made Arianna think her mother had forced her to call. Despite this, both Paige and Kayla had agreed to come to the ministry to see them off this morning.

Arianna stormed into the living room and sat herself down on her suitcase. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at her mother, who was standing patiently by the fireplace, holding a small sack of floo powder.

'Ready to go, Ari?' She said in a falsely bright and cheery voice, blatantly ignoring the murderous stare she was receiving from her daughter.

'Yes.' Replied Ari stiffly, never turning off her glare. She slowly got up and dragged her suitcase towards the fireplace. She reluctantly accepted the floo powder from her mother and threw it into the fireplace. She stepped forward into the crackling green flames.

'The ministry of magic.' She said bitterly and was instantly engulfed in emerald green flames.

She emerged moments later from one of the arrival fireplaces at the Australian ministry for magic. She landed gracefully but was thrown to the ground when her suitcase came tumbling after her. Arianna scowled. She was one of the few people her age who were blessed with the ability to travel by floo powder with a certain level of style and poise. She'd always had good balance, but it was impossible to stay standing when a heavy suitcase came slamming into you. She jumped to her feet and winced as a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck. She still hadn't completely recovered from her meeting with the death eaters three days ago. She didn't know much about the curse she was hit with, but she did know it packed one hell of a punch.

She rubbed her neck angrily, her bad mood increasing, as she dragged her suitcase away from the fireplace. A few seconds later, she spotted her mother hurrying over from the apparation area.

'Arianna! Come one! I'm over here!' Arianna stared determinedly in the other direction.

'I've found your friends!' Arianna's head shot up. However horribly her friends had treated her, she still wanted to see them before she left. She quickly hurried over to where her mother and friends were standing. She was immediately enveloped in a hug from Kayla.

'Oh God, Ari, I've been a bitch. It's not your fault you have to move! I'm so sorry! Forgive me?' She looked up at Arianna, her hazel eyes wide and swimming with tears. Arianna almost burst out laughing. She had seen that I'm-so-innocent-it-wasn't-my-fault look on Kayla so many times before. Her best friend obviously didn't give her much credit.

'Cut the crap, Kay, I've seen that look on you too many times before for it to actually fool me.' Then she smiled. 'Of course I forgive you.'

Kayla grinned, the tears instantly gone from her eyes.

'Of course you do! You love me!' Arianna rolled her eyes and hugged her friend.

'Hey! Forgetting about someone?' Ari looked up to see her other best friend standing behind her.

'Paige!' She squealed and immediately pulled her into the hug. The hug lasted for about 30 seconds before Arianna's mother pulled her away.

'Ari, we have to go soon! Out portkey leaves in fifteen minutes and we still have to go pick it up.' Arianna scowled. Leave it to her mother to ruin the perfect moment. She stepped back from her friends awkwardly.

'Well… Bye... I guess…' She trailed off.

'We'll write every day.' Paige promised.

'Yeah and… good luck, I spose, with meeting your dad and everything…I'll miss you.'

'Don't.' Arianna replied firmly, 'I'll be home before you know it.' She shot a nervous glance at her mother, but she was far enough away not to hear them, 'I'm going to be an absolute nightmare so they'll have no choice but to send me back.' Kayla's and Paige's mouths dropped open, but their surprised looks were quickly replaced by grins.

'That's my girl!' said Kayla.

'Should have known…' muttered Paige, but suddenly her expression was replaced by a slightly worried one.

'Ari, maybe… for your mum's sake you should at least TRY to bond with your dad before you get yourself sent home.' Arianna scowled.

'Why should I do that?'

'Because she obviously still loves him and if you don't even try to like him, you'll break her heart!' Arianna looked slightly guilty. She appeared to be having an argument with herself before she answered.

'Well… I suppose I could be nice to him… but at the same time I'm gonna be doing my best to get expelled from Hogwarts.' She said grudgingly.

'As long as you do it.' Paige said with a grin.

'Ari! Ten minutes! We have to leave now!' came Anna's urgent cry from a few meters away. Arianna reluctantly pulled away from her friends.

'Well… I guess I better go… I'll owl you as soon as I get there. See ya.'

'Bye.' Replied Paige and Kayla in unison. Arianna took one last look at her friends before grabbing her suitcase and hurrying over to her mother.

'Ready to go, mum?' She asked brightly. Anna looked at her daughter in surprise. Arianna had been blatantly ignoring her since yesterday, and here she was acting… almost excited about moving to England. Anna shook her head. She could never understand her daughter. She was so unpredictable, so wild, so troublesome, so like her father… Anna's stomach gave a joyful lurch. She was going to see Sirius again soon! And on that happy thought, Anna lead her daughter up to the Department of Magical Transportation to collect their portkey.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The cut along the back of Arianna's neck gave a painful twinge as her feet slammed to the ground in the ministry of magic, England. She was vaguely aware of her mother on the ground at her feet. Arianna smirked. Her mother didn't have the good balance that her daughter had. Just as Anna was struggling to her feet, a tired looking customs-wizard hurried over to them.

'Name?' He snapped.

'Anna-May and Arianna Black.' Anna replied smoothly. The wizard's head snapped up at them and he surveyed them suspiciously.

'Any relation to the escaped convict Sirius Black?'

'Not that I'm aware of.' Anna lied smoothly. He gave them one last suspicious look before replying.

'I just need to scan your trunks before I let you through.' Anna nodded and gestured to their suitcases which were piled in a heap just to the left of them.

He hurried over to them and aimed his wand at Arianna's suitcase. He muttered a spell and a green puff of smoke appeared from the end of his wand. He repeated the process with Anna's trunk and then waved them on.

'You're luggage is acceptable. Go on through the barrier.' They nodded at him and then proceeded out of the customs building. Arianna was amazed to realize it was dark outside.

'Geez! How long did that portkey ride take?' She muttered.

'Time difference, honey. It's about midnight here.' She glanced around anxiously. 'Dumbledore said he'd send us an escort to show us to headquarters.'

'Headquarters?' Arianna questioned her.

'Not now. I'll explain later.' She hissed back, still anxiously glancing around. Arianna felt someone tap her on the shoulder and whirled around. Standing there was a young witch who looked to be somewhere in her early twenties. She had dark eyes and short, spiky, bubblegum-pink hair. She was dressed in baggy jeans, and a weird sisters t-shirt with a plain black robe hanging undone over the top. She looked Arianna up and down, a faint glint of recognition in her eyes.

'Are you Arianna and Anna Black? Of course you are, you look just like Si- him. I really hope you are them because If you aren't I've really made an idiot of myself.' Anna laughed.

'I'm Anna and this is Arianna. I'm guessing you're Dumbledore's escort?' The stranger went into a sweeping bow.

'Tonks, at your service!' Anna gasped and looked Tonks up and down.

'To- You wouldn't be little Nymphadora would you?' Tonks scowled and nodded.

'Everybody calls me Tonks now. I hate my name.' Anna laughed again.

'The last time I saw you, you were only a toddler!' Anna exclaimed, and then she turned excitedly to Arianna.

'Ari! This is your cousin!'

'Cousin? What the-'

'Well… sort of.' Tonks cut in, ' My mother was your dad's cousin, so we're like, second or third cousins.' She frowned, 'Well… I think it's something like that…'

Arianna was just about to greet her newly discovered cousin warmly, but then she remembered that she was trying to get her mother to send her back.

'Aren't you supposed to be taking us to headquarters, or something?' She asked Tonks coldly. Tonks looked slightly taken aback.

'Uh… Yeah sure…Umm… I have a portkey here somewhere…' She stuffed her hand into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a slightly squashed quill.

'Uh… yeah.. just put a finger on that…' She tapped it with her wand.

'_Activito_' she muttered. For the second time in the last fifteen minutes, Arianna felt the familiar sensation of a hook being jerked behind her navel as the portkey took off.

A/N: So… What did you think? Remember: The more reviews I get, the faster I update! So REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	8. New enemies

A/N: I updated quickly! Aren't you proud of me? Please Review and tell me what you think! Also I want reader's opinions on how this story should go.

Set in Harry's fifth year, but changed to include Arianna and how her presence changes the events.

Set in Harry's sixth year, but If Sirius lived.

Please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 8 – New Enemies

Arianna landed gracefully from their portkey ride and immediately felt someone grab her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see Anna using Arianna to steady herself. Ari glanced down and noticed Tonks was sprawled all over the ground. On impulse, she stuck out her hand to help her cousin, but quickly withdrew it and mentally scolded herself. She was supposed to hate everyone here! It was the only way she'd get sent home! She made herself glare coldly at Tonks.

'Where is this headquarters you're supposed to be taking us to?' She said, looking around at her surroundings, 'This is a vacant lot, in case you haven't noticed.' Tonks scowled at her and grudgingly stuck a hand inside her robes, and withdrew a small scrap of parchment. She handed it to Anna and gestured for them both to read it.

'Memorise it.' Her good mood had lessened considerably since Arianna had started acting completely horrible to her. Arianna glanced down at the scrap of parchment in her mother's hand.

_The headquarters for the order of the phoenix may be found at number 12 Grimmauld Place. _

Arianna glanced at the houses in the street in front of her. The numbers seemed to jump from number 11 to number 13.

'Is this some kind of joke?' She hissed at Tonks.

'Think about what you've just memorised.' Tonks growled back.

Ariannna stared back at the street, thinking hard about the note she had just memorised. To her surprise, a house seemed to materialise right in front of her, forcing its way between numbers 11 and13. A small gasp from beside her told that her mother was seeing the same thing.

'Come on, let's go inside.' Tonks lead them across the road and up to the front door of number 12, where she paused.

'Now when we go inside you have to be very quiet, for two reasons. 1. Everybody is asleep, and 2. There are certain things in this front hall that we don't want to… wake up.' Arianna shot her mother a questioning look, but she just shrugged and allowed Tonks to lead them inside. Arianna glanced cautiously around her new surroundings, but she couldn't see much by the dim light of Tonks' wand. All she could tell was that It was a stone corridor with several portraits lining the wall. Tonks lead them slowly down the corridor. They were about halfway to the end, when Arianna tripped. She flung her arms out, desperate to find something to steady herself on. Her hands felt a worn, moth-eaten and fabric and she grasped on tight. Immediately a blood-curdling shriek rang through the silent corridor, shattering the silence.

'FOUL, LOATHSOME HALF-BREEDS! BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS AND INTERUPTING MY SLUMBER! MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS-' Arianna jerked her head upwards, towards the source of the noise. She realised that the source of the commotion was a portrait, a life sized portrait of a pale, handsome woman with dark eyes and black hair, pulled back in a cap. She realised with a start that that the worn material she had grabbed onto had in fact been curtains. Curtains that had been hiding this woman's portrait from view, and it was now evident why.

'MUDBLOODS IN MY HOUSE! DIRTYING MY GREAT FAMILY'S ANCESTRAL HOME WITH THEIR-'

'Now look what you've done!' Hissed Tonks, desperately trying to pull the curtains closed again, but failing dismally.

A door banged open at the end of the corridor and a dark figure hurtled towards the hangings. This person, Arianna noted, was obviously stronger than Tonks because they had the curtains closed within a few seconds. It was only when the figure turned to face them that Arianna recognised him.

Black, shoulder length hair, now tousled from sleep and blue-grey eyes, once alive and twinkling with mischief like Arianna's, but were now saddened and haunted, a look that had no doubt come from spending twelve years in Azkaban. Arianna's father, Sirius Black. Arianna felt her jaw drop open. She'd known that she'd have to meet him sometime, but she had at least expected a little warning beforehand. Arianna readied herself, and then looked up, prepared to meet her father's eye, but Sirius wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the person next to her.

'A-Anna?' He stuttered. A look at her mother told Arianna that Anna had silent tears streaming down her face.

'Hello, Sirius.' Anna tried to say the words calmly, but as soon as she finished she broke into desperate sobs and ran forward, burying her face in Sirius' chest. He awkwardly put his arms around her and comforted her until she finally stopped sobbing. She glanced back at Arianna, who was awkwardly standing next to Tonks, not really knowing what she was supposed to do. Anna turned back to Sirius.

'Sirius, this is my,' She paused,' OUR daughter, Arianna.' Sirius' head jerked towards where Arianna was standing.

'What? No – I mean... It's not possible! I mean – Dumbledore said YOU were coming, but he never said anything about – Oh Shit!' Arianna glared at Sirius.

'Well it's obvious you don't want me.' She spat, 'I'm sorry I was ever born if it inconveniences you so much!' She turned to Tonks, 'Can you take me to wherever it is I'm supposed to be staying? I'm obviously not wanted in his majesty's presence.' Tonks looked torn.

'Oh well... Maybe you should just try to talk-' Arianna cut her off.

'Please? I'm really tired! I can talk to him in the morning!' She gave Tonks her best puppy-dog eyes look, and Tonks reluctantly nodded.

'Okay…Come with me. _Locomotor trunk_.' She led Arianna down the rest of the corridor and through the door, levitating Arianna's trunk in front of her. On the other side of the door was a large room with several doors leading off to one side and a large staircase on the opposite side. Tonks lead Arianna up the stairs to the second floor landing where she paused.

'Okay, all of you, OUT.' She commanded. Arianna shot her a confused look but Tonks ignored her.

'Come on guys, I know you're there! If you come out now, I'll forget to mention it to Molly that you were eavesdropping again.' Almost immediately, six teenagers immerged from various hiding spots along the landing. Even though it was dark, Arianna didn't fail to notice that four of the six had flaming red hair.

Guys,' Tonks addressed the teenagers, 'This is Arianna Black. Arianna, this is Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.' Arianna gasped. She hadn't heard of the Weasley's or Hermione before, but she definitely knew who Harry Potter was. She was surprised to realise that all six of them were glaring at her. Tonks seemed to be surprised by it as well.

'Well... Uhh… Boys, go back to your rooms. Ginny, Hermione, Arianna will be staying in your room. Can you show her where it is?' The red-headed girl and the girl with the bushy brown hair both nodded, but they didn't move. Finally the brunette stepped forward.

'Hi, Arianna, I'm Hermione. Our room is this way.' She led Arianna down the hall to the door at the very end. Ginny reluctantly trailed behind. Hermione showed Arianna into the room. It was a plain room, with plain stone walls and three beds, two of them unmade with trunks sitting at the ends of them.

'You can sleep in that bed.' Said Hermione, gesturing towards the third bed. Arianna nodded and without a word, went over to the bed and started pulling down the covers. She was just changing into her pyjamas when Ginny spoke.

'Who the hell do you think you are?' She hissed. Arianna turned to look at her.

'What the hell do you –'

'Sirius.' She hissed angrily, 'We heard you from the landing! You just blew up at him! It isn't his fault! He never knew about you, and you just made everything out to be his fault! He doesn't deserve that!'

'You don't have any right to talk to me like that! You don't know anything about me!' Arianna hissed back. Ginny was about to snap back a reply, when Hermione butted in.

'You have to understand, Arianna! He only just found out about you! He just suffered a great shock! He's probably really confused right n-'

'Since when did you become the expert?' Arianna snapped back. Hermione looked hurt and Ginny was looking ready to kill.

'Come on, Hermione, She's a waste of our time. Let's just go to bed.' She then turned on her heal and marched back to her bed. Hermione shot one last pained look at Arianna before following Ginny's lead. Arianna, realising that the fight was over, jumped into her bed and tried to sleep.

A/N: Okay I know this chapter isn't fantastically written, but I wanted to update today and I'm really tired. Please review and tell me what you think! I'm still not getting many reviews! Remember to vote for either option a or option b!


	9. Declaring war

A/N: Chapter 9 is here! Sorry it took longer than usual to update but my computer crashed. I wrote the whole chapter out but then I had to type it as soon as my computer started working again. Pls Review… More reviews, faster updates!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 9 – Declaring War

Arianna slipped out of her bed before either Ginny or Hermione woke the nexr morning. She had been awake pretty much the whole night anyway because her body clock was all messed up. She quickly changed into a t-shirt, jeans and tracksuit top and through her hair into a messy ponytail. She then grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and slipped out of the room.

She tiptoes along the landing, down the stairs and along the corridor where she'd first glimpsed her father the night before. She took extra care to be quiet as she passed the screaming portrait. She silently opened the front door and hurried outside. Arianna glanced around the front yard. It was bare and ugly, but by the looks of it, so was the rest of the neighbourhood. She reluctantly settled herself under a dying tree that was situated right near the edge of the house. She took out her quill and parchment and began to compose her letter.

_Hey Guys!_

_Hope your days going better than mine. I've only been here a few hours and I hate it already. I met him last night. It seems that someone conveniently forget to mention to him that I EXISTED! Doesn't matter anyway... he made it perfectly clear he doesn't want me, so this entire trip was a waste. There are some kids here too, but they are all complete idiots. They decided they hate me before I even started being bitchy! Not that that's a bad thing, I mean, I want them to hate me… It contributes to my goal of getting sent home soon. There's this one Ginny, Ginny, who had a go at me just for not letting him completely destroy my self esteem last night! As if it was MY fault! I'll fill you in better later. Please write back ASAP and don't forget to send Malfoy my love._

_Missing ya heaps,_

_Ari_

Arianna finished her letter and rolled up the parchment. Now came the hard part, finding an owl. Normally she'd use her mother's owl, but she had no idea where Anna was, let alone her owl! Absentmindedly, she leant back against the tree and stared up into its bare branches. As if her prayers had been answered, a snowy-white owl was perched on one of the topmost branches, gazing down at her. Arianna bit her lip. The owl's owner probably wasn't very far away; they might even be living in this very house! But she needed an owl, and this seemed like the only option. She would have to do it. And anyway, she wouldn't be stealing exactly… more like borrowing without permission…

She jumped to her feet and started whistling at the owl and coaxing it to come down.

'Here girl, come on, I won't hurt you.'

At first the owl did nothing, but eventually it flew down to a lower branch, just out of Arianna's reach. It was now or never.

'Hey there girl. I know I'm not your master but I really need to have this letter delivered ASAP and you seem like a very reliable owl. Do you think you could do me a favour?'

The owl seemed to consider this for a moment before sticking out it's leg and allowing Arianna to attach the roll of parchment.

'Take this to Kayla Robson and Paige Williams, Holcraft School for witchcraft and wizardry.' She told the owl.

After the owl had flown away, Arianna sat back down against the tree to think. She'd have to talk to Sirius at some point, even if he didn't want her. She growled to herself. All her life people had been comparing her to Sirius, but there was at least one way in which they were different. If she'd been put in that situation, finding out she had a long lost daughter, she wouldn't just reject her point blank. She might take a little time to accept it but – Wait! That seemed like a pretty cruel judgement seeing as she'd only given Sirius thirty seconds to process the information. Maybe that Hermione girl was right. What kind of name is Hermione anyw- SPLAT. A dungbomb exploded on Arianna's head. She jumped to her feet and started desperately looking upwards, searching for the culprit. Her eyes rested on the second story window just above where she had been sitting. It was wide open and she could here the unmistakeable sounds of laughter floating through it. Her eyes narrowed. Ginny Weasley and her minions. They had pranked Arianna Black and now they were going to pay the consequences, because no-one pranked Arianna Black and got away with it. They wanted a prank war they got one.

Arianna stuffed her quill in the pocket of her jeans and ran back inside. She didn't meet anyone on her way back upstairs. The adults were probably either still asleep or somewhere else in the house, and she knew exactly how the house's younger occupants were spending their time.

Arianna pushed the door of her room open. All six of them were in there. The tall gangly red head (Rob?) and Harry were both standing over near the window with slight smirks on their faces. The twins, who seemed to be slightly older than the others, were both jumping up and down on Ginny's bed screaming, 'Bulls eye!'

Hermione was lying on her bed looking slightly worried, and Ginny was rolling around on the floor, laughing hysterically. Arianna clenched her fists.

'What the hell was that for?' she demanded, directing the question at Ginny.

'Oh, we just thought we'd show miss high-and-mighty that she isn't queen of the universe!' replied Ginny, giggling slightly.

'Well, Ginny dear,' said Arianna sarcastically, 'you seem to have hit me whilst aiming for yourself! Who knew, you really are as stupid as you look!'

'Hey!' snapped one of the twins angrily, 'Watch what you're saying ,Black! That's our baby sister!'

'Oh I'm sooooo scared! The red-headed freaks are gonna be mad at me! You know, normally I'd take that prank you just pulled as an insult to my intelligence, but in this case, I'll take it as an insult to yours! A dungbomb! Honestly, is that the best you could think of?' The twins were spared from answering by Mrs Weasley, who chose that moment to enter the room.

'Breakfast is ready and your Hogwarts letters are here, so you better get downstairs quick.' For the first time, she caught site of Arianna.

'Oh hello, dear. You must be Arianna! I was just talking to your mother and she told me – What is that smell?' She rounded on the twins.

'Fred! George! You'd better not have anything to do with this! You might have finished school, but I can still punish you!' She gave them both suspicious looks. The twins shifted restlessly under their mothers gaze, sending constant glances at Arianna, afraid she'd rat them out. Mrs Weasley gave them each one last suspicious look before turning back to Arianna.

'I'm Molly Weasley, dear. Would you like to come downstairs for your breakfast now?'

'Yes thankyou Molly.' Arianna couldn't help but like this woman, and beside, it couldn't hurt to be friendly to some people… could it?

'But could you allow us a few moments to finish our conversation?' She gestured to the six other teenagers behind her, 'We were just discussing the similarities and differences between Australian and English magical schools, and it was really quite fascinating!' Molly smiled warmly at her.

'Of course, dear. The others will show you down to the kitchen when you're ready.' She turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Arianna turned back to face the others.

'So what do you say? A prank war. All of you versus me. Or are you scared?' she smirked slightly when she saw the disbelieving stares she was receiving. Finally the tall, gangly one spoke.

'You are challenging all of us, including Fred and George to a prank war? Are you insane?'

'Clinically.' The twins shot each other a quick look. They seemed to have reached an agreement, because the one on the left spoke.

'Agreed. Whoever manages to prank the opposing team the most before midnight tonight wins.' Arianna smirked.

'Let the games begin.'

A/N: So……… that's chap nine! Hehe… I have this story all planned out… Please review! Now I'm back in school, I don't have as much time to update, but Reviews inspire me, so get reviewing! No reviews, no chap ten for a month… at least!


	10. A different point of view

A/N: Okay! Finally chap ten is up! I decided to do it a little differently this time and have it from Paige's point of view. It buys me a little time to think about how I'm going to weave this story into the storyline of HBP. I know it's short but I'm not really in the mood for writing right now. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 10 – A different point of view

The last few days have been some of the hardest I've ever had to face before in my life. First my two best friends were attacked by Death Eaters and one of them was seriously injured, but then Ari told us she was leaving Australia so she could go to England and live with her long lost father. We were forbidden to tell anyone, of course, because as far as the Ministry for Magic is concerned, Sirius Black is still a dangerous criminal on the run from the law. Neither of my parents know. It was a stretch for them to let me keep being friends with Ari after the truth about her parentage leaked out; I'd hate to see what they'd do if they knew that Ari was currently living with her dad. Probably tip off every country's ministry between here and Antarctica. My dad would probably leave it at that but then my mum would probably force feed me and Kayla veritiserum to make sure that we had know idea where Sirius Black was hiding. Okay, probably not anything that drastic but seriously, I wouldn't put it past her.

Kayla's taken the loss of her best friend pretty hard, though she absolutely refuses to admit it. She just keeps putting on these huge fake smiles and going about as if nothing is wrong, but I know her better than that. When Kayla gets frustrated, she throws all her energy into two things.

Kayla is captain of our house quiditch team. According to her team mates, (I'm not on the team) she is usually a very agreeable captain, but lately, she has been drilling everybody for top-notch performances and gets really angry every time somebody makes the slightest mistake. Whenever she's not out on the quiditch pitch, Kay is pranking Malfoy with all her might. It's gotten to the point where I've actually started to feel sorry for the girl.

It's really strange with Ari gone. We've always been a threesome, since we were about five years old. Kayla and Ari always knew they were witches, having grown up in wizarding house-holds, but even though my mum is a witch, my parents decided not to say anything until I got my Holcroft letter. Even when Ari and Kay thought I was a muggle, we were still the best of friends. A lot of people thought it was strange that we were so close seeing as we were all so different. Kayla, the daughter of two successful Aurors, was pretty, popular, athletic intelligent and charming. Everybody loved her. Then there was Ari, the strange little kid with the shady background no-one really knew anything about. She was always in trouble for one thing or another and it took very little to provoke her into a screaming match, even with the teachers. Despite this, Ari shared many of the same characteristics as Kayla. She was drop-dead gorgeous and had half the guys in our school after her, though she never even gave them the time of day. She was also quick-witted and charming, which resulted in everybody loving her, even if she'd just finished screaming at them. And then there's me. The quiet little half-blood who could basically recite every book in the school library. I didn't play sports, there was nothing special about her bloodline, I wasn't exceptionally pretty… I guess for some reason or another I've always been pushed to the side while the other two were in the spotlight. I don't really mind that much, I still get a fair amount of attention just for my part in pranking Malfoy, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

'…over the next year. You will be able to select the country you will visit.' I blearily lifted my head off the desk and started to listen to what Rafferty was telling us.

'…America, England, New Caledonia…' that's when it hit me. An exchange program! Professor Rafferty was talking about an exchange program, for a country of our choice! I kicked Kayla under the table and her head shot upwards.

'Damn!' She screeched out loud, 'Mum, why the hell did you wake me up? I have at least ten more… Oh! Hello Professor!' She finished sheepishly as she realised that she was in fact, half way through her charms lesson; A lesson she was actually supposed to be paying attention in. Rafferty fixed her with a piercing glare before returning to her announcement.

'For those of you, who were paying attention, if you wish to sign up for the program, give your name to me before the end of the week.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Okay, Paige, you better have a good excuse for waking me up! I am in detention for a month for that little escapade.' Kayla glowered at her friend as they sat down at their usual lunch table after class had finished.

'I do. And I think I had a very good reason for waking you up. Rafferty was talking about an exchange trip to the country of our choice.' Kayla raised her eyebrows.

'That's all? Another one of Rafferty's little projects? You woke me up for that?' Paige looked at her friend exasperatedly, waiting for what she'd said to register. A look of understanding dawned on Kayla's face.

'England.' She whispered, 'Ari! We're going to see Ari! This confirms it, Paige! You are almost as brilliant as me!' Paige rolled her eyes at the typical Kayla comment and stood up.

'Come on. I only heard snippets of Rafferty's speech so we still don't know much about it. We better go talk to her.'


	11. An unexpected fall

A/N: Okay I've figured out this story and where it's going. It's gonna vaguely follow the plot of HBP but still be majorly different. Remember, I'm writing this as if Sirius never died, he was just badly enough injured that he nearly died and Harry still Hates Bellatrix Lestrange with a passion. Since Sirius didn't die, they're staying at Grimmauld Place rather than the Burrow like in HBP. Please review, I had major writers block and it took a lot out of me to write this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think, it'd be greatly appreciated!

**MAJORLY IMPORTANT NOTICE: **I have a special spot in my story for a character and I'm gonna make that character based on my 50th Reviewer. It's not just a random character I'm throwing in, there is a point to them, and they play a big role so please keep reviewing!

Disclaimer- I don't own HP

Reviews: 

**The Egyptian Sand Quill: **You were the only one who reviewed my last chapter :( Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like my story!

Chapter 11- An unexpected fall

Arianna reluctantly followed Harry, Ron and Hermione down to the kitchen. Fred, George and Ginny had decided to stay up in the girls' bedroom. _Probably trying to figure out how to prank me, _thought Ari. She trailed a good few meters behind the other three and they entered the kitchen before her. As she turned the corner and took in the kitchen's dark, dank appearance, she noticed that there were already a few people sitting around the wooden table in the centre of the room. Among them, she recognised her mother, Tonks, Lupin, Molly Weasley and…him. She was painfully aware that every eye was turned to her, but it was a while before anyone spoke.

'Ari! Ugh… did you sleep well dear?' Anna said in a falsely cheery voice.

'Yeah… whatever, mum.' Arianna muttered back.

'Have a seat dear.' Interjected Mrs.Weasley, bustling over and dragging Ari over into a chair beside her mother and across from Harry. Mrs. Weasley placed a plate of toast, bacon and eggs in front of her, but she just picked at the food, not hungry. She finally decided that the plate of food could not be any more mashed up than it already was and started paying attention to the people around her. Tonks and Remus were having a heated discussion on some muggle band, Harry, Ron and Hermione were having a whispered conversation, shooting her glances every now and then and Anna and Mrs Weasley were chatting vividly about household healing charms. After watching them for a good ten minutes, Arianna reluctantly turned her head slightly to observe the one person at the table she had been determinedly ignoring the entire morning. She was surprised to see Sirius already watching her. Blushing furiously, Arianna turned her attention back to the mess that had once been edible food.

'I need a distraction.' She thought, 'Oh well, might as well get a head start on the prank war.'

Slipping her wand out of her pocket, Ari carefully aimed it from under the table and whispered, '_Tarrantellegra_,'

Immediately there was something similar to an explosion on the other side of the table. Harry let out a small gasp of shock as his legs started to flail wildly. Hermione and Ron, who had been sitting on either side of him, dived out of the way to avoid being hit. Harry attempted to regain control of his flailing legs, but accidentally overturned the table in the attempt. Everybody who had not gotten out of the way quick enough was immediately covered in eggs and coffee. Using the mayhem as a diversion, Arianna slipped out of the kitchen. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, she just ran. Out of the kitchen, through the hallway, up the stairs… She went up several stories than she had been before and set of running along an unfamiliar hallway. She chose a random door and burst through it, slamming it behind her, and locking it.

She immediately wished she hadn't. Standing in front of her was a fully grown hippogriff, and it didn't look happy at the rude interruption. Arianna quickly tried to open the door, but it was too late. The hippogriff lunged at her and she was forced to roll out of the way to avoid having her head ripped off. The hippogriff let out a startled shriek and charged at her again. Ari jumped out of the way, but she knew that she was in trouble. Hippogrif's were very proud creatures and very easily offended. This one probably wouldn't rest until it had taken quite a large chunk out of her. Ari rolled out of the way again and her elbow connected with solid wood. A quick glance told her that she had run into an old wardrobe. It was made of heavy, dark wood but Ari thought she could probably push it if she tried. She jumped to her feet (narrowly missing the hippogriff's snapping beak) and positioned herself to the left of the cupboard. The hippogriff wheeled around and lunged at her. With a swift push, Ari tipped up the cupboard and sent it flying forward. The hippogriff dodged out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

'Damn,' thought Ari, 'that was supposed to trap it or knock it out! Now it's just even madder at me! Oh shit it's coming again…' She realised with a groan that she was now trapped in a corner with the furious hippogriff blocking her only way out. She retreated even further back into the corner, and then she realised, the door was not her only way out of the room. Right beside her was a wide open window. It was small and grimy, but she could probably squeeze through if she tried. Ari didn't have any longer to evaluate the situation. As the hippogriff lunged at her, she threw her self sideways, out the window. She realised too late that she was on the fifth floor. Panicking, Ari started to swing her arms around wildly, desperate to catch hold of something that could save her life. Her fingers closed around something long and slender, yet rough and she held on for dear life.

Once she had persuaded herself to open her eyes, Ari realised that her saviour was one of the top most branches of the very same tree she had been sitting underneath earlier. She realised with a sickening jolt that the branch she was holding onto was very thin and would not hold her wait for long. She had to move. One hand after the other she started to inch towards the much sturdier trunk. She was not afraid of heights, but being five stories of the ground and dangling from a branch that was likely to snap at any minute was enough to make anyone's head spin.

'Relax,' she told herself, 'This is just another stupid ropes course at that stupid summer camp mum insists on sending me to…' CRACK. The branch split, and Arianna swung sickeningly. She was holding on to the barely-connected branch by the tips of her fingers and the branch was slowly ripping away, separating from the tree trunk. Arianna did what any other person in her position would do. She screamed bloody murder.

'MUM! TONKS! HEEEELLLPPP! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE AND HELP ME! I DID NOT JUST ESCAPE VEING MAULED BY A FRICKIN' HIPPOGRIF JUST TO GO SPLAT ON THE GROUND! GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OUT HERE AND HELP ME!'

Thirty seconds later, the front door burst open and a person came running out.

'Okay, Black what do you w-' Started Ginny, but she was interrupted.

'GINNY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GO AND GET MY MUM OR SOMEONE ACTUALLY CAPEABLE OF GETTING ME DOWN FROM HERE!'

Ginny started to snicker but she soon realised the seriousness of the situation and the blood drained from her face.

'Bloody Hell, Black. How did you get up there? Are you crazy?'

Arianna wanted to strangle her but decided that letting go of the branch probably wasn't the smartest option.

'Look, Ginny, Just run inside and grab the first adult you can find! And do it quickly 'cos in about another minute I'm just going to be a mangled pile of flesh right where you're standing!' She screamed. Ginny quickly nodded and sprinted off. She returned thirty seconds later with... him.

He looked upwards and he paled as he saw her dangling there.

'Shit…' She heard him mutter, 'I left my wand inside…'

'WELL THAT'S JUST DANDY!' she screamed down at him, 'NOW HOW DO YOU PROPOSE GETTING ME DOWN WITHOUT A WAND?' He seemed to think for a moment before replying.

'I'll catch you.' Ari was so surprised she forgot to shout her answer.

'What?'

'Look, just let go of the branch, and I'll catch-'

'ARE YOU BLOODY INSANE?'

'Well it's either that or you can fall to your death, and personally, I don't think cleaning up my daughter's mangled body is likely to be a lot of fun!' He snapped back. Arianna stared at him.

'y-your daughter?' She stuttered. Sirius' gaze softened.

'On the count of three then.' He muttered, stretching his arms out to catch her, 'One, Two, Three!' Arianna reluctantly let go of the broken branch and started falling through open air. For one terrifying moment she thought she was going to hit the ground, but strong arms caught her. Arianna quickly freed herself of her father's grasp.

'Well… Uhh… thanks, I guess.' She muttered; once she had both feet safely back on the ground, 'I'll just be going…' She turned and tried to head back to the house, but she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

'Care to explain why you were dangling from the top of a tree?' said Sirius, a slight smirk on his face.

'Well after I jumped out of the fifth story window there wasn't a lot of option of what to grab hold of!' She snapped, glaring at him. He looked suddenly angry.

'Why the hell did you jump out of a fifth story window?' Sirius demanded, 'Do you have a death wish or something?'

'Well jumping out a window and hoping I'd be ok seemed preferable over staying and being mauled by your stupid pet hippogriff!' She spat at him.

'Buckbeak? Why were you up there with the stupid hippogriff?'

'Running out of the room after I jinxed potter seemed like a pretty good idea at the time 'cos if I'd stuck around mum would have dam well killed me for ruining her perfect little fairy-tale ending! Unfortunately for me I chose a pretty bad room to run into!' Sirius blinked, and then a smile slowly spread across his face.

'That was you who jinxed Harry? God that was hilarious! Why did you do it though?'

'Prank war.' She muttered, staring at the ground.

'You've only been here for half a day and you've already gotten into a prank war? Who with?' He laughed.

'The minions of death from hell.'

'Care to elaborate?'

'Ginny, the twins, Ron, Hermione, Harry…' She trailed off.

'Hermione agreed to take part in a prank war?'

'Well… The others kind of dragged her down with them.'

'Hmmm… Well I don't think that's fair! Six on one?'

'Well that's the way the cookie crumbles. Mum's hardly gonna help me prank them is she?'

'I'll help you.' Arianna looked up at Sirius in surprise.

'You'll help me?'

'With the prank war! Six on one is hardly fair!'

'Neither is six on two.'

'Yeah, but it's better than six on one.'

'Oh… well okay. But don't tell anyone. The whole reason they kind of hate me is 'cos I blew up at you last night. The last thing I need right now is friends.'

Sirius gave her a confused look.

'Why don't you want any friends? Anna told me you're moving here permanently so making friends seems like a pretty good option to me.'

'Uhh… well… I can't exactly wage war on friends can I?' She inwardly groaned. Not exactly a Paige-worthy excuse. Sirius seemed to accept as an answer though.

'Right you are. So, what's the plan?' Arianna smiled to herself. Maybe her short stay in England wouldn't be as bad as she had expected.

A/N: Okay what did you think of chapter 11? Please Review! I love hearing what you guys have to say! Remember, 50th reviewer gets a special spot in my story!


	12. Family fun

A/N: Okay, this was a pretty quick update, hope you appreciate it! This chapter is longer than usual, so PLEASE review!

Reviews:

**The Egyptian Sand Quill: **hehe, glad you liked it! It is an awesome movie isn't it… Review again!

**Sf-former-mk: **I'll try and update soon, but I'm not making any promises! Thanks for reviewing!

**Chrystyna: **Thanks, I'm glad you like it! This is probably my favourite of all my stories so I'll definitely keep it going! Review again!

**Kaythara: **This chapter is longer, that should make you happy! Thanks for the nice comment and review again!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 12 – Family fun

'Mum! Mum, where are you? I need to talk to you!' Anna looked up from her coffee at the sound of her daughter's voice. Things had not been going exactly as she had planned. She had pictured her reunion with Sirius to be absolutely perfect with her running into her husband's arms and Ari and Sirius loving each other on sight. Needless to say, things had not gone to plan. Anna wondered what her daughter had done now. _Funny, _she thought, _how whenever my daughter wants to talk to me I immediately think she's up to something._

'I'm in the kitchen, honey; what is it?' Arianna entered the kitchen with a mischievous smile on her face. _Yep_, thought Anna_, She's definitely up to something._

'Mum, I need your help.' Anna shot her daughter a suspicious look.

'With what, exactly? I'm not helping if this is another one of those stunts you pulled on poor Harry.'

'Poor Harry, my arse. He had it coming; and anyway, this one is much more elaborate and somehow I think you'll want to help.'

'And what makes you think that?'

'Well, I just thought you might want to join in for a bit of… family fun.' Anna shot Ari a sharp look.

'What do you mean by tha- wait! Come ba- ARIANNA BLACK GET BACK HERE RIGHT THIS MINUTE!' but Ari was already gone. Anna quickly dropped her coffee mug in the sink and ran after her daughter. She followed her down an unfamiliar corridor and down a set of stone steps that seemed to lead to a sort of basement. At the bottom of the stairs, she found Ari waiting for her at a plain wooden door.

'Ah, mother, you decided to join me after all.' Said Ari, smiling lightly.

'Arianna you are going to tell me what is going on right this minute or you are going to be grounded with suspended pocket money until you are seventy!'

'Alright, alright! Just wait till we get inside!' She turned to the wooden door and whispered quickly, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' The door swung open and Ari lead her mother inside. The room was decked out in red and gold from top to bottom. There were a couple of red and gold arm chairs and lounges as well as a fairly large square table with four chairs around it. The walls were covered with a variety of loose pieces of parchment covered in random scribbles and sketches as well as a variety of photos, mostly picturing four boys. But Anna barely noticed any of this. Her eyes were drawn to the figure sitting in one of the arm chairs.

'Sirius!' Sirius smiled.

'Hey, Anna. I see you decided to join us.' Anna looked at her husband in shock.

'Us?' She looked quickly over to where her daughter was standing near the doorway and her eyes narrowed.

'You two planned this together? How? Last time I checked you were refusing to speak to each other!' Arianna shrugged.

'Things change.' Anna was very confused by now.

'What happened?' She demanded, glancing between her husband and daughter. 'Why don't you tell the story, Ari?' said Sirius, grinning slightly. Anna was now even more confused. Had Sirius just called Arianna by her nickname?

'Well… to make a long story short, Sirius caught me after I jumped out of a fifth story window.'

'What! Why on earth did you do that? Arianna you have done some stupid things before but what on earth possessed you to jump from a fifth story window?'

Arianna muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'hippogriff.' Anna turned to Sirius.

'Well? What happened?'

'Umm… well right now isn't really the time but I assure you that there is a perfectly good reason and she wasn't doing anything I wouldn't have done.'

'That hardly makes me feel better.'

'Well she's fine isn't she?'

'Well… I suppose so… but you still have to tell me later. By the way, what is this place?' Sirius grinned broadly.

'The Marauder's lair.'

'The what?'

'The Marauder's lair… honestly, you'd think that someone who shared my gene's would have enough brains to come up with a better name than that…' muttered Ari.

'Hey! It's a great name!' said Sirius defensively.

'Is not!'

'Is too!'

'Is not!'

'Is too!'

'Does it really matter what the name is?' Interrupted Anna, 'What I want to know is how you managed to get this place set up! I doubt your parents would have let you have this place in their own house.' Sirius grinned.

'Well technically we aren't in their house. This room was one of our more brilliant creations. It's linked to all four of the marauders houses. The beauty of it is that no-one can find it unless they are shown by someone who already knows about it!' Anna gulped.

'So we are floating around in limbo right now?' She asked. Sirius and Ari grinned.

'Brilliant isn't it? But that's not what we brought you here to discuss. The thing is, we need a distraction…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hermione, have you seen Sirius?' Hermione looked up from the book she was reading to find Harry standing in her doorway.

'No, I haven't seen him since breakfast this morning. Why?' Harry glared at her.

'Is it so wrong for me to want to talk to my godfather?' Hermione ignored him and returned to her book.

'What about you, Ginny?' Harry asked the younger girl, 'Have you seen Sirius since this morning?'

'He's with Black.' Said Ginny. She had been busy writing furiously in her notebook, no doubt trying to come up with some pranks to use in the prank war.

'WHAT?' Harry exploded, 'WHY THE HELL IS HE WITH HER? WHY WOULD HE WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH HER? SHE INSULTED HIM!'

'Oh, give it a rest Harry!' snapped Hermione, 'You know it's not really a crime for her to spend time with the father she only just met! If you stopped being so jealous and selfish-'

'JEALOUS? SELFISH? SHE'S THE ONE WHO SHOW'D UP HERE AND RUINED EVERYTHING!'

'You're jealous Harry! It's not that hard to figure out! You're afraid that Sirius will forget about you now he has his own daughter!'

'That's not true! And why is he with her anyway, Ginny?' Ginny waved away the question.

'It's not important WHY he's with her. The important thing is WHAT they're doing. I overheard them talking. He's decided to join her side in the prank war.' She said darkly. Hermione quickly looked at Harry to see his reaction. To her surprise, Harry didn't start shouting, in fact, his mouth was pressed in a hard line, but he had gone oddly pale.

'I need to have a little word with Black.' He said grimly and marched stiffly out of the room. Hermione shot a worried glance at Ginny.

'Do you think we should go after him? We all know what Harry's like when he's angry. He could really hurt her…' Ginny yawned.

'I'm not too fussed. Let him do his worst.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'…and so when faze B comes into operation, Mum, you will be?' Anna rolled her eyes.

'I will be in the kitchen and making sure Molly stays away from the second floor landing at all costs.'

'And, Sirius, You will be?'

'Leading the twins out to the second floor landing.' Ari nodded her head in satisfaction.

'And I will be hiding under the disillusion charm, waiting for them to step outside so I can jinx them.'

'I still don't think this is a good idea…' started Anna, but she was interrupted by Ari banging her fist down hard on the table.

'Good God, woman, we are at war!' She yelled. Anna frowned.

'Don't you talk to me like that young lady! You might be 'commander in chief' but I can still ground you!'

'Not likely! I'm leaving for school tomorrow.' She muttered the last part quite bitterly. Sirius looked quite shocked.

'Why don't you want to go to Hogwarts?' he demanded.

'Um… I do… I'm really looking forward to it.' Sirius looked at her suspiciously, but decided to let it slide.

'Oh yeah, about Hogwarts, I've been meaning to tell you. Make sure you are sorted into either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw house. Hufflepuff would be okay… I guess… but you CANNOT be in Slytherin.'

'Why not? You can't tell me what house I can be in!' Arianna flared up, 'What's wrong with Slytherin?'

'Ummm… Ari...' muttered Anna, 'You know Pani House at Holcroft?' Ari nodded.

'Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?'

'Well Slytherin is kind of the Hogwarts version of Pani.'

'Oh,' She turned to Sirius, 'Sirius, you have my full assurance that I will not be in Slytherin. As if I'd want to live with a huge bunch of Malfoy's…'

'That's good… but did you just say 'Malfoy'?' Ari nodded.

'Yeah, don't tell me you've heard of them? I couldn't stand it if little Princess Lorena was actually telling the truth when she said how famous her family was!'

Sirius laughed.

'Sounds like a typical Malfoy. The Malfoy family originated in England. I didn't know there was an Australian branch. Actually, there is a Malfoy at Hogwarts now. He's in Harry's year so he'll be a year older than you.'

'Great, I just escape one Malfoy and I get another. Brilliant.'

'Actually now that I think about it,' Sirius mused, 'you are actually related to him.'

Arianna's eyes widened.

'I'm related to Malfoy? Yuk!' Sirius laughed.

'Well, I doubt you're related to your Malfoy, but you're definitely related to dear young Draco.' Arianna had gone very pale by now.

'How is that possible?'

'My dear cousin Narcissa,' Sirius spat, 'married that git Lucius Malfoy. Draco is the vermin they produced together.' Arianna almost laughed.

'Your cousin was called _Narcissa_? Do you know what that means?' Sirius scowled.

'I do; and I personally think the name suits her brilliantly.' Ari laughed.

'The name would certainly have suited Lorena Malfoy.' She got to her feet and started twirling her hair between her fingers and flouncing around the room.

'All bow down before me because I am Malfoy the Queen of the Snobs! Everybody worship the ground I walk on because I am so beautiful and brilliant and wonderful and modest!' She shrieked in a high-pitched sarcastic voice.

Sirius leaned over and whispered to Anna so Ari couldn't hear.

'I think I'm definitely gonna like this kid.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fred looked at the clock. II:48 pm. The prank war would end in exactly twelve minutes and so far the scores were dead even. He scowled. As much as he didn't like Arianna he had to admit she had pranking ability. So far today she had managed to prank every member of their team except for him and his brother George. _She was good at avoiding being pranked too_, He thought bitterly. So far, they had only been able to hit her with a couple of dung bombs and well aimed Jelly legs jinxes, no real pranks. He looked over to the other bed occupying the room and saw his twin lying there and staring into space.

'Twelve minutes left.' George muttered, staring at the clock, 'We have to do something soon; we can't let her beat us… I wonder what she's planning…'

'We'll know soon enough replied Fred, 'She won't want to lose; she'll be trying something any minute now.' _POP_. Fred and George's heads shot up; instantly awakened from their dreary state. Fred lowered his wand as her saw that the person who had apparated was Sirius Black. He scowled.

'What do you want? Shouldn't you be with your _precious little princess?_' Ginny had told them about Sirius joining Arianna in the prank war, and needless to say, they weren't happy about it. Sirius scowled.

'Actually, that's why I'm here. The kid's driving me insane! I came in here to escape!' He ran a hand through his longish dark hair and made a face.

'It's all _daddy this _and _daddy_ _that_! It's driving me mad!' The twins still looked sceptical.

'Typical that you show up and tell us this a few minutes before the prank war ends.' Said Fred, raising an eyebrow.

'Look,' muttered Sirius in a low voice, 'I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I will anyway. She's put a charm on your bedroom. Anyone inside it at exactly midnight automatically gets transfigured into a cat.' Fred and George looked horrified.

'-She didn't! That's-'

'-outrageous! How dare she-'

'-do such a thing! Midnight's in-'

'-a few minutes! If she thinks-'

'Enough of the twin speak already!' Sirius snapped, 'Warning you will have done a fat lot of good if you don't get out of here right now!' The twins nodded.

'Fine,' said George, 'we'll come, but you have to walk out the door first, just to make sure there's nothing waiting for us out there.' Sirius shrugged.

'Suit yourself.' He marched up to the door, opened it, walked out and spun round a few times on the spot.

'See! Nothing here!' Fred and George shot each other a quick look before following him out the door. As soon as they stepped out of the doorway they were both hit in the chest with pink beams of light and were thrown backwards. Fred got to his feet, closely followed by George. He didn't feel any different. He turned to look at his brother and let out a small yelp. George was exactly the same, save one small thing; he had grown breasts. Fred looked down at his own chest and realised that he was in the same predicament. He turned to turned to face Sirius, but realised that Sirius was no longer standing by himself. Standing beside him, was a smirking Arianna Black.

'You put up a good fight, boys,' She said, her smirk widening as she glanced down at her watch, 'But its midnight now. Looks like the better pranksters won, doesn't it. Excuse me; I have to be up in a few hours for school and I'd like to get some sleep. By the way, that charm has been mixed with an irreversible charm; only I can take it off. You have till I leave tomorrow morning to convince me to do it. G'night.' She turned and walked down the hall, entering her own bedroom and shutting the door. The twins turned to Sirius and were about to start yelling at him when he stopped them.

'Alls fair in love and war.' He said with a laugh, 'I just picked the winning side, that's all.' He apparated away before either of them could protest, leaving Fred and George standing alone in the hallway. Fred turned to his brother and said, 'You gotta admit, she's good.'

A/N: Sooooooo…. What did you think? Please review!


	13. Hogwarts

A/N: Yay! I updated! And this chapter is long! JOY! Anyway, I know Ari is starting to seem like a real bitch and she seems like an even bigger one in chapter, but she will start being nicer to some people… eventually so stay with me! Please review, you know that lots of reviews means quicker updates!

Reviews:

**Mine4Sirius: **OMG! Constructive criticism! Thank you!

**LilySkywalker3: **hmmm... who's she gonna hook up with? Sorry, can't tell you yet, but all will be revealed soon!

**Metamorphagusgirl:** Thanks, you're so sweet!

**Scared-of-mimes: **Thanks, glad you liked it! You're a twin? Cool! I've always wanted a twin!

**Rohan Bernett: **hehe… glad you liked 'Fredrica and Georgina'

**Gatermage: **Well, here's your update! I'm glad you liked it!

**SiriusSpikeLover: **hmm… well I didn't exactly include them grovelling but there was indications of it! Review again!

**Kaythara: **Sorry, the twins don't go to school, they've finished remember? Read on and find out what happens to their 'condition.'

**Slytherinsess: **Okay, well British schools start in September but Australian schools start in late January / early Febuary. I'm making it so that she did most of her fifth year already but now she has to do it over again so she can be in her age group at Hogwarts. She'll be a little ahead of everybody else ;) Hope that explains it!

**Reader4ever: **yay for Arianna! I love it when people like my characters!

**TheEgyptianSandQuill: **Thanks, I'm glad you think they're good! Please review again!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. There are some bits and pieces taken from PS in here and obviously, they're not mine.

Chapter 13 - Hogwarts

Arianna stared at herself in the mirror and grinned. She looked…well, maybe _perfect_ wasn't the right word. In short, she was a mess. She was wearing her oldest and most faded pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees and a grubby blue t-shirt. Her dirty-blonde hair was crushed under a Brisbane Bronco's cap and there was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. This was the first step in her three-step plan to getting sent home. Step one – look horrible, step two – act horrible step three – be generally horrible. Arianna took one last look at her reflection before throwing herself backwards onto her bed. They weren't leaving for kings cross station for another hour and she was bored. She didn't really have anything to pack seeing as she'd only arrived two days ago and tormenting the other teenagers who lived in the house had gotten old after a while. POP. Arianna glanced up at Fred and George who had just apparated into her room for the third time that morning.

'You're looking lovely this morning most wonderful mistress Black.' Said one of them.

'I've already told you,' she replied in a bored voice, 'Flattery won't get you anywhere. You have to make it worth my while if you want me to undo that charm.'

'Well, as you may or may not have been told, when me and Fred finished Hogwarts last year, we opened a joke shop.' George informed her brightly.

'And,' continued Fred, 'We developed some rather interesting products that the students of Hogwarts used to drive certain teachers to the brink of insanity. We would be prepared to give you a few free samples in exchange for… uh… the pre-discussed services.' Arianna smirked.

'I can't recall. What were these _services_ again?' both twins noticeably blushed.

'Getting rid of… these… these things!' exclaimed Fred, pointing at his chest.

'Let me see these little experiments of yours.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Ari! Come on, honey, we're leaving! We have to be at the train station on time!'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…' Arianna reluctantly dragged her trunk down the front stairs. She reached the entrance hall to find everybody else already there, waiting.

'Geese, Black, being on time for once wouldn't kill you.' Muttered Ginny resentfully.

'A Black is never late, everyone else is simply early.' Ari replied smoothly, smirking at her. Ginny scowled at her but Ari ignored her and looked over to the corner of the room where Sirius was saying goodbye to Harry.

'See ya at Christmas, Harry.' Said Sirius, ruffling Harry's hair, 'make sure you owl me.' Harry smiled but then looked slightly worried.

'Speaking of owls, you haven't seen Hedwig around anywhere, have you? I can't find her anywhere!' Sirius shrugged.

'She's an owl. She'll just be flying around somewhere. She'll probably turn up once you get to Hogwarts.' Harry nodded.

'Yeah, probably. See you later, Sirius.' Once Harry had moved away to talk to Lupin, Ari moved over to her father.

'Hey, Sirius.' He smiled.

'Hey, kiddo. Excited about your first day at Hogwarts? Oh crap; listen to me! I sound old.' He shuddered on the last word and Ari laughed.

'That's because you are old!'

'Maybe, but I don't look a day over twenty.'

'It's a debatable issue.'

'Keep talking, I dare you…'

'And you have all these wrinkles…' Sirius looked horrified.

'Wrinkles! I do not have wrinkles!'

'Do so!'

'Do not!'

'Do so!'

'Do not!'

'Okay, let's just call them character lines.' Sirius smirked.

'Haha! I win… I think…'

'Yeah… Oh! By the way, Potters owl, she wouldn't happen to be a snowy owl, about so big, would she?' Sirius looked at her suspiciously.

'Yeah… why?'

'Oh, um… I heard that he couldn't find her and I saw her yesterday morning.'

_Okay, _she thought_, not a complete lie…_

'Alright, I'll see you at Christmas, Kiddo.'

'Bye, Sirius.' He scowled.

'Aren't you gonna call me dad or something?' he asked her. She shook her head.

'Nope.'

'Well… I'll see you later, kiddo.' He reached out to ruffle her hair but she stopped him.

'Never,' she said, 'touch my hair. I happen to like it the way it is. Not all messed up and gross like Potter's.' Sirius grinned.

'Good point. See ya later.'

Arianna walked over to where her mother was talking with Mrs. Weasley.

'Hey mum, Molly. Are we leaving soon?' Anna nodded.

'Yeah, seeing as the train leaves in ten minutes, that would be a good idea. I've got the port-key. You wanna round everybody up, Molly?' Mrs. Weasley nodded quickly.

'You're going to miss the train! Everybody over here now!'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arianna slid open another compartment door.

She asked, 'Can I sit here?' and sat down before waiting for an answer. The people in the compartment all stared at her without saying anything. Eventually, one of them spoke.

'What is your name? I'm Draco Malfoy.' Arianna looked up and scowled at the pale boy with gelled blonde hair.

'Malfoy. So you're the wonderful cousin I've been just dying to meet.' She said sarcastically, 'Arianna Black.' Malfoy and the other Slytherin's eyes widened.

'Black? As in Sirius Black?' Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her.

'Could be.' Malfoy was getting very annoyed by this point.

'Who is your father?' he demanded.

She grinned evilly at him. 'And why, pray tell me, should I tell you?' He glared at her.

'Because I find it in my best interests to know! now tell me!'

'No. I already said we were cousins. Second cousins, once removed, if it helps. Surely you can't be so dumb as to not know by now.' The two goons on either side of Malfoy cracked their knuckles threateningly at her, but she ignored them.

'You are Sirius Black's daughter!' said Malfoy triumphantly. She nodded slowly at him.

'That's very clever of you. Now can you spell moron? M-O-R-O-N.' He glared at her.

'You have an accent! What country are you from?' he demanded.

'Can you spell Australia? A-U-S-T-'

'Shut up!' He yelled. Arianna smirked.

'Good comeback, Malfoy, that was almost as good as your dear cousin Lorena's comebacks.' His eyes narrowed.

'You know my cousin? How?'

'One of life's little mysteries isn't it. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll switch compartments. I don't find your presence as wonderful as you seem to find mine.'

Arianna jumped up and stalked out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her. She hadn't exactly been _nice _to the Slytherins, but she had kept her temper, and that was an accomplishment.

Arianna walked down the hallway to the very last compartment. She had to sit in this one whether it was occupied or not. All of the others were either full or had some people in it she didn't want to be anywhere near. Funny how Potter and his friends managed to spread themselves along the train. She slid open the compartment door. It was empty apart from two girls.

'I'm Arianna Black. Can I sit here?' One of the girls nodded, wrinkling her nose slightly at Arianna's appearance.

'Uh… sure. I'm Parvati and this is Lavender. Are you new this year?'

'Umm… yeah. I'm not a permanent student though. I'll be gone by Christmas.' She added quickly. Lavender nodded.

'Okay, well we're sixth years. What year are you going into?'

'Fifth, I think. I was in year ten at my school in Australia, but its different here.'

The girls chatted for a bit longer, but Ari made sure that she never made herself seem too friendly. She DID NOT want to fit in with any clique whatsoever, least of all whichever one these two seemed to be in. Lavender seemed to be a bit ditzy, and Parvati, who did seem to be pretty intelligent, also seemed a bit controlling. After they had been talking for a few more minutes, Lavender turned and whispered something to Parvati, whose eyes lit up.

'Um… Arianna… we were wondering…' began Parvati.

'What?' said Ari suspiciously.

'Wellyou'reveryprettyandwewonderedifwecouldgiveyouamakeover!' blurted out Lavender. Ari raised an eyebrow at the girl.

'Come again?'

'Can we give you a makeover?' Replied Parvati before Lavender could say anything else, 'You really are very pretty but it doesn't look like you put much thought into your… um… outfit choices this morning.' Arianna glared at her.

'What's wrong with my clothes?' she snapped.

'Well… they're just a bit… old…' said Parvati uncomfortably. Arianna was just considering leaving the compartment and sitting in the hallway, when there was a knock on the compartment door.

'Come in.' said Lavender quickly. The door slid open to reveal Ron Weasley, looking very uncomfortable, and clutching a piece of parchment.

'Ron!' Said Lavender brightly, 'What are you doing here?' Ron eyed her uncomfortably.

'Um, I need to give this to Black.' He thrust the piece of parchment into Arianna's hands and walked quickly out of the room.

Lavender's face fell, and she looked at Arianna with new-found contempt.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' she spat, 'Aren't you going to open the letter from your _boyfriend?_' Despite herself, Ari almost laughed.

'Boyfriend? Him? Ha! As if! He's probably gone and whined to some teacher and gotten me a detention or something!' Lavender looked slightly happier, but still slightly suspicious.

'Why don't you open it then?'

'Fine, I will!' Arianna unfolded the parchment and read the message inside.

_Miss Black,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._

_Sincerely, Professor H.E.F Slughorn_

'See!' she shoved the note in Lavenders face, 'Hardly a love note from my boyfriend, hey?' She leaned back and stuffed the note in her pocket. Grabbing her wand out of her pocket and lazily started zapping at a fly that was buzzing around their compartment.

'Well?' demanded Lavender, 'Aren't you going to go?' Arianna snorted in a very un-ladylike fashion.

'Yeah, right. I'm going to get chummy with the teachers! There's a good idea!'

'But you'll get in trouble!'

'Meh.' ZAP. Arianna's jet of light finally hit the buzzing fly and it fell, stunned, right into Parvati's lap. She let out a high-pitched squeal.

'Ahh! Get it off me! Why did you do that? Uh, get out of here!' Arianna grudgingly rose to her feet and left the compartment.

_Not exactly making tons of friends_, she thought to herself and smiled. She would be out of here in two weeks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?' Arianna glared at all the young children who were surrounding her. Ever since she'd been forced to get in the stupid little boats with them they had annoyed her incessantly. They were so… twitchy. This wasn't exactly what she wanted to be doing at the moment. She could have been at home, terrorizing Malfoy with her friends, but no. She had to be stuck in a stupid, smelly castle with a bunch of twitchy first years. That woman, McGonagall had said that they would soon be sorted into their houses. All the 11 year olds had been going on about wrestling a troll or vanquishing vampires or some other ridiculous idea. Ari didn't particularly care, as long as it was over quickly and she wasn't put in Slytherin.

'MISS BLACK! THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!' Arianna looked up to see McGonagall standing in the doorway and looking furious.

'You have no right to take your anger out on these first years.' Arianna glared at her, but said nothing.

'We are ready for you in the Great Hall.' Said McGonagall. Still glaring at Arianna, she turned and led the first years and sixth year into the great hall.

It was lit by thousands of candles floating in mid-air over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were loaded with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Arianna gasped. She had to admit, this was far more spectacular than the Mess hall they had at Holcroft. Professor McGonagall placed a stool on the ground and put a ripped and dirty hat down on top of it. Ari stared at it amusedly. _What an old hat_, she thought. She vaguely noticed that everyone, teachers and students alike were staring at the hat expectantly. Arianna stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

'_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_the sorting hat can't see,_

_so try me on and I will tell you _

_where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor _

_where dwell the brave of heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindor's apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those paitent Hufflepuffs are true _

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin,_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I am a Thinking cap!_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

'This year,' McGonagall announced to the school, 'we have a transfer student from Australia. To avoid confusion with the first years, she will be sorted first. _Black, Arianna!_' Incessant muttering broke out as Ari walked over to the stool, but she could only catch snippets of it.

'-as in Sirius Black?'

'-thought they were all gone-'

'-murderer-' Ari's cheeks flushed red as she sat down on the stool and placed the hat on her head. _They don't know what they're talking about, _she thought.

'_Yes, I'm sure they don't, but where to put you?' _replied a voice in her head that was not her own, _'Hmmm… there is loyalty… perhaps Hufflepuff? No… It doesn't fit… Intelligent? Yes but Ravenclaw is not for you… Slytherin… now that one fits… yes… I think I'll put you in-'_

'NO!' Ari screeched out loud. She could here the muttering growing louder now.

_Not Slytherin, Not Slytherin!_

'_Not Slytherin, eh? Well in that case, better be GRYFFINDOR!' _The hat shrieked the last word aloud. There was a stunned silence in the hall. Arianna took the hat off her head and was about to walk to the Gryffindor table when she realised she didn't know which one it was. She looked miserably around the hall, but no-one looked willing to help her. Then she heard the sound of clapping. She whirled around to face the staff table that was behind her and saw Dumbledore on his feet and clapping. Following Dumbledore's lead, most of the other teachers jumped to their feet and started applauding as well. Reluctantly, the rest of the hall started applauding as well. Dumbledore caught her eye and pointed towards the table on the far right. Shooting the old man a grateful smile, Arianna made her way over to the Gryffindor table.


	14. meet the teachers

A/N: This chap is pretty short, but it's got a lot going on in it, so that should make up for it. I'm planning on releasing a prequel to this story about when the marauders were at school so look out for it! The first chapter is half written so I'll let you know when I post!

Reviews:

**Rageandjt: **Wow, one of the best stories you've ever read! Thanks!

**Gatermage:** Yeah, she's not exactlt lady luck, and but things will shape up for her soon.

**Kaythara: **'Meh.' Is the greatest saying ever. Hehe, gotta love the simpsons! Don't worry, there'll be some snape action in this chapter. She definitely get's on his nerves!

**Mine4Sirius: **constructive criticism! I love it! About finding the house table, The first years usually find it by which ouse is clapping the loudest for them, but no-one was clapping for her so she couldn't find it that easily!

**Scared-of-mimes: **Yeah, making Malfoy feel dumb is always a great way to pass time. Not that he needs the help, that is! Thanks for reviewing!

**Milkshakegonebad: **Yeah, it would be horrible. Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 14 – meet the teachers

Arianna overslept the next morning. The port-lag was finally catching up with her. She slowly got out of bed to find that all her dorm mates (Ginny included) had already left. A glance at her watch told her that she had ten minutes left until her first class. She swore as she hurriedly pulled on her school uniform and ran a brush through her hair. She grabbed her book bag and sprinted out the door. When she got down to the common room, there were barely any people there, but she managed to find a mousey looking third year to follow down to the great hall. Upon entering the Great Hall, every eye turned to her. Arianna stared determinedly at her feet and marched over to the Gryffindor table where she sat down next to the same third year she'd followed downstairs. She was just buttering herself a piece of toast when McGonagall marched over to her and handed her a piece of parchment.

'Your timetable.' She told her.

'You have transfiguration with me first and class starts in three minutes exactly. Make sure you are not late.'

'Oworypefessaoollbedere.' Was the only response McGonagall got because Arianna's mouth was full of toast. Shooting her a disgusted look, professor McGonagall walked stiffly out of the great hall, no doubt heading to her classroom.

Ari took her time finishing breakfast. She didn't particularly care about being late. After all, she was trying to get herself kicked out, right? When she had finished eating, Ari walked fast pace to the transfiguration classroom. When she opened the door, she found everybody already in their seats and Professor McGonagall standing at the front of class giving a lecture. She turned her gaze to Arianna and fixed her with a cold glare.

'Miss Black?'

'Sorry I'm late, Professor, I got lost.' She put on her best puppy-dog eyes innocent look, but it didn't get past Professor McGonagall.

'Take a seat Miss Black. 20 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness.' Ari headed to the back of the classroom and sunk into one of the wooden chairs. She opened her backpack and pulled out three things: Her transfiguration text, her wand and a muggle mp3 player that had been charmed to work in close proximity to magic. Dumping her book and wand on her desk, Arianna popped the earphones of the mp3 player into her ears, but she didn't turn it on. Leaning back in her chair, Ari closed her eyes and faked sleeping. This was an 'art form' she and Kayla had practiced continually at Holcroft. Pay attention but make it look like you're not. This meant that she could 'keep up the image' but when it came to doing the work, she could still do it like an expert. But this time, the 'art form' was serving a bigger purpose than keeping up Ari's bad girl image. It was helping her get kicked out of this hell-hole.

'Miss Black! Remove those things from your ears right this instant and pay attention!' Ari pretended not to hear McGonagall's order because in all reality, if she had been listening to music, she wouldn't have been able to hear her in the first place.

'Miss Black! Miss Black! Oh- _sonorous. _MISS BLACK!' Arianna couldn't ignore her anymore. She made a great show of blearily opening her eyes and yawning dramatically.

'Yes Professor McGonagall?' She asked sweetly. The other students were staring at her in awe and disbelief. No-one has ever crossed Professor McGonagall before! McGonagall was beyond furious.

'Never in all my years have I seen such blatant disrespect for authority! You will serve detention tonight with Mr Filch!' Ari smiled sweetly again, reached into her book bag and pulled out her detention-diary. She, Kayla and Paige had all received one as a 'gift' from their head of house at the beginning of the year. She flicked through to September second where she wrote neatly 'Detention Mr Filch.' She turned back to Professor McGonagall, who was standing with her mouth hanging open in shock.

'When and where?'

'Entrance hall. Ten o'clock.' Ari wrote it down, slammed the book shut and looked up at McGonagall expectantly.

'Well… aren't you gonna keep teaching? It's what they're paying you for, right?' McGonagall gave Arianna one last severe look before turning and strolling swiftly back to the front of the classroom. As soon as she was gone, Arianna popped the earphones back in her ears; much to McGonagall's fury.

'MISS BLACK! That is it! You are going to see the headmaster!'

Ari gathered her stuff and, clutching the note McGonagall had given her to give to Dumbledore, she exited the classroom. She was smirking as she set of down the corridor to Dumbledore's office. Sent to see the headmaster ten minutes into the first class of her first day; that had to be a record. She confidently approached the the statues of the two gargoyles and stated the password McGonagall had told her.

'Fizzing Whizbee.' Nothing happened. Ari frowned.

'Fizzing Whizbee.' She tried again. Nothing.

'Damn gargoyle! Fizzing Whizbee!'

'The headmaster has just changed the password.' Arianna whipped around. Standing behind her was a tall, pale figure dressed in billowing black and with the greasiest hair Arianna had ever seen.

'The headmaster has just changed the password.' The figure repeated.

'Would you mind telling me what it is then?' Ari replied sweetly. He scowled at her.

'You should be in class, Miss Black. What are you doing demanding entrance to the headmasters' quarters?' he demanded.

'I was sent here by Professor McGonagall. How do you know my name?'

'I am your professor and you will always address me as "Professor " or "sir."'

'How do you know my name_, sir?_' He sneered at her.

'You are quite the _celebrity _Miss Black.' She glared at him.

'That may be, sir, but right now I have an appointment with the headmaster, so would you mind telling me the password?'

'How very like your father you are.' He spat at her, 'He too strutted around like he owned the place and had no respect for authority. And look where that got him; a convicted criminal.' BAM. Arianna's fist connected with the greasy-haired guy's nose and he staggered backwards.

'You – you – ' he hissed, clutching his nose.

'You'll be expelled for this. Like father, like daughter, convicted criminal. Come with me.' He grabbed her arm, but Arianna wrenched it out of his grip and ran. Her mind was numb. She'd be expelled for sure, but this wasn't how she wanted it to happen! She wanted to get thrown out for playing pranks and being rude, not attacking a teacher! They'd snap her wand in half and Holcroft wouldn't accept her back and she'd have to go to some muggle delinquent school! She had to get out of there. She ran back to Gryffindor common room as fast as she could and then up the stairs into her dormitory. She threw the few things she had unpacked back into her trunk, pulled a small leather bag out of the bottom of it and slammed it shut. Ari quickly dragged her trunk down the stairs and stopped in front of the fireplace and quickly lit it with her wand. She pulled some powder out of the small, leather pouch she was holding and threw it into the roaring flames, which instantly turned emerald green. She shoved her trunk into the fireplace and stepped in after it.

'Number 12 Grimmauld Place!'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sirius was sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld place thinking about how perfect his life was right now. He had a family! A real family, not a dark-arts obsessed family who trained their children to become death eaters, but a good _non-evil _family. Arianna was a blast and Anna… Sirius smiled. He and Anna had just decided to get back together. Anna was the love of his life, Sirius knew this, and now he had a little-mini me! Well, maybe not so little. Arianna was fifteen years old now, so she was hardly a baby. Sirius' smile faltered. He regretted missing the first fifteen years of her life.

'Sirius' musing's were interrupted by the fireplace flaring to life. He vaguely wondered who would be coming now. The next order meeting wasn't for another two days and most of the members were out on missions anyway. Sirius watched as a slim figure tumbled out of the fireplace and landed on her feet, only to be knocked to the ground a few seconds later by her trunk. Sirius gasped. He recognised this person. The dirty-blonde hair and tanned skin were only too familiar.

'Ari? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at Hogwarts!' Ari's eyes widened at the angry look on his face.

'Uhhh….'


	15. In and out of hot water

A/N: Big thanks to Mine-for-Sirius who Beta'd this chapter. You should notice a dramatic increase in the quality of my grammar. If not… well… that's my fault. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Reviews:

Chapter 15 – In and out of hot water

**PruePotter:** Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Love your name, BTW. Charmed and HP, the best book and best TV show.

**Rohan Bernett:** Yeah, I think everybody has been waiting for Snape to get punched. He definitely deserves it, especially after book 6. BTW, your character will be appearing in next chapter. I'll send it to u to check before I post.

**Scared-of-mimes:** Cliffies are evil but sometimes you just gotta have 'em. I just couldn't resist having her punch snape. And any way, it created Drama!

**Mine-for-Sirius:** Ok, you Beta'd this chapter for me and I just emailed you so I'm not sure what to say here. Hmmm… thanks for Beta-ing?

**Gatermage:** yep, I have a habit of doing this don't i? Whenever I get bored I just ruin my characters lives. Meh. I'm the author, I have every right… I think…. Hmm, I'll have to check up on that.

**Slytherinsess:** Hmmm… couldn't quite tell if that was sarcasm or not… oh well… review again!

'Well?' Sirius demanded, 'Why aren't you at Hogwarts?'

Ari stared at him for a moment and then started fumbling with the bag of floo powder in her hands. She made quickly to jump back into the fireplace, but Sirius grabbed her arm, preventing her from moving.

'Don't try and run away!' he warned her, 'You're in enough trouble as it is! Now why aren't you at school?'

Ari looked at the ground and muttered in a barely audible voice, 'Expelled.'

Sirius stared at her in shock.

'What- but- no! I mean- how?' he finished weakly.

Arianna didn't look up.

'It hasn't happened yet,' she said quietly, 'But any minute now they're gonna show up here to break my wand in half.'

Sirius almost sighed in relief. She hadn't actually been expelled. He could talk Dumbledore out of it. But there was still the matter of –

'What did you do?' he asked her.

She looked up at him and Sirius was surprised to realize that her eyes were full of tears.

'I punched a teacher in the face! I think I broke his nose!'

Sirius gulped. This did look bad.

'Which teacher?'

'I don't even know.' She muttered bitterly, 'Yep, that's me, the great Arianna Black, punch first, ask questions later.'

Sirius was shocked.

'Well why did you punch them?' he he asked furiously 'What did they do?'

'Insulted you.'

Sirius was astounded. She'd broken a teacher's nose because they'd insulted him?

'What did they look like?'

'Greasy.'

Sirius would have laughed if it had not been for the seriousness of the situation. Snape. His daughter had broken his childhood enemy's nose. The problem was that Snape wouldn't rest until Arianna had been thrown out of Hogwarts and he'd probably sue as well. But Sirius wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. He turned to Arianna.

'Now I want you to listen very carefully to me.' he told her, 'Go to the Marauder's lair. No one except your mum, Remus, you and I know the password. Do not come out until one of us comes to get you, and for the love of God, do not surrender your wand if anything happens.'

Ari nodded and grabbed her trunk. She pushed the bag of floo powder into her father's hands.

'Here,' she said, 'it'll save you Apparating.' He nodded and turned to face the fireplace.

'And Sirius?'

He looked back at her.

'Yeah?'

'Thanks.'

He gave her a small smile before stepping into the fireplace, dropping the powder and shouting, 'Headmaster's office, Hogwarts!'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kayla Marie Robson always got her way. It was a general rule that everyone around her had gotten used to living with. Kayla was smart; intelligent enough to know that she had the upper hand over almost anyone who challenged her. Her parents were both top Aurors and held a great amount of political power. She was very pretty, most guys would give almost anything to go out with her, she was popular, and everybody wanted to be her friend, but most of all, Kayla was incredibly stubborn and not used to hearing 'No.'. That was why Kayla was currently standing in her head of house's office and screaming, arguing, swearing and threatening.

'But Professor! I have to go! It's a matter of life and death!'

'I see no reason to allow you into this program, Miss Robson, now please remove yourself from my presence.'

'But Professor, I'm just as eligible to be accepted into this program as anyone else in this school, probably more! I get top grades! I haven't had detention in – okay, bad example, but I have to go!' Professor Rafferty looked down her nose at Kayla.

'Miss Robson! I know that the only reason you are interested in this program is because of Miss Black and I personally think that some time apart would do you good! You two are simply too disruptive while in each others presence, and I will not have embarrassing our school!'

'Unfortunately for you, Professor,' argued Kayla, her eyes flashing, 'it is not your personal opinion that matters! Unless you want to face an official enquiry with the Ministry, I suggest you put all personal opinions aside and look at this from a professional and diplomatic point of view! I get top grades! My parents are very influential people and this would be very good for international relations!'

Kayla could see that she had her professor stumped. There was no denying that Kayla going on this trip would be very good for international relations, and if she didn't allow her to go she could quite possibly lose her job, or at least her good reputation as a teacher. Kayla watched with satisfaction as a defeated look spread across her professor's face.

'Fine,' snapped Rafferty, 'You can go.'

Kayla grinned happily as she ran off to find Paige. Yes, Kayla Marie Robson always got her way.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ari was bored. For the first hour or so she had been pacing 'The Marauder's lair' worrying about whether or not she had been expelled. Then she had realised that this was getting her no where and so she had resigned to sitting in one of the crimson coloured armchairs and daydreaming about happy times she'd spent with her friends. She was interrupted when the door swung open and four people walked in. Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and the greasy-haired teacher who she'd hit. Ari noticed with grim satisfaction that he was standing as far away from her as possible.

'Miss Black,' said Professor Dumbledore gravely, 'it has come to my attention that you attacked a member of my staff. How do you plead?'

'Guilty,' muttered Ari.

'Seeing as it is your first day, first offence, and you were honest with us, Professor Snape has decided not to press charges.' Ari lifted her head in disbelief. They were letting her off?

'On the condition that you are not in any of his defence against the dark arts classes and you agree to see an anger management therapist.'

Ari looked at him glumly.

'So I have to see a shrink and drop my favourite subject?'

'Not a chance.' said Sirius, 'You aren't dropping any classes, let alone DADA. You're just getting a private tutor.'

'But I still have to see a shrink?' (_Could_ be new paragraph ) Sirius and Remus stifled a laugh, Snape scowled and Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling.

'Yes.'

'Damn. So who's tutoring me for DADA? Remus?'

Remus shook his head.

No, I am going to be constantly away doing work for the Order. I won't have time.'

'So who?'

Dumbledore gave her a small smile.

'Whenever your timetable says you have Defence against the Dark arts, come to the Room of Requirement. Your tutor will meet you there.' He turned and walked out of the room with Snape hurrying along behind him.

Ari turned to her father.

'Where's the Room of Requirement?' she asked. Sirius grinned.

'Harry will show you. In the mean time, you need to get back to school. They'll be eating lunch right now.' Arianna sighed. Great, she'd have to ask Potter for help. Just what she needed. Then she grinned. She'd broken a teacher's nose and gotten away with it! That was one for the scrapbooks!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Well it's certainly been an eventful first day. Can't say I enjoyed it though. I broke a teacher's nose, got away with it, got kicked out of DADA, got a private tutor who I am yet to meet, got condemned to torture sessions with some shrink, and after all of it, instead of everyone hating me, people have been trying to get in my good books. I am the prophesized 'Girl-who-broke-ugly-teacher's-nose.' Funny as hell, I tell you. I think it started going a bit too far when I some first years came up to me asking for self-defence lessons. The best bit was Potter's reaction. It looked like he was going crazy trying to figure out whether to congratulate me or continue ignoring me. Apparently he was Snape's most hated student; I guess that one just changed. At least I don't have to suffer through classes with the git now. I hope the tutor's alright._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hey! Black!' Arianna whirled around to see a panting Ginny running towards her.

'Yeah?'

'Dumbledore wants to see you in his office. Something about your new DADA tutor.'

'Gotcha. Thanks.' Ginny had suddenly warmed up to Arianna after the Snape incident. Ari was still reluctant to make friends with anybody, but had resolved to be polite to the girl.

Ari hurried towards Dumbledore's office and was surprised to find Harry waiting at the stone gargoyle's.

''Scuse me, Potter.' she said, shoving him out of the way, 'I have to see Dumbledore.'

'So do I,' he told her, 'He wanted to see both of us. Why do you think I'm waiting?

She shrugged.

'Acid Pops.' They entered the revolving staircase together and were soon at the top at the heavy wooden door that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

'Come in,' came the voice from inside.

'I'll never understand how he does that.' Harry muttered to her as they entered.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk and beside him was a woman with a creamy complexion, long blonde hair that reached her waist and eyes so dark a brown they were almost black. She looked to be about her parent's age, Ari thought.

'Ah, Harry, Arianna, take a seat. Let me introduce to you, Professor Annabel Kerrigan, your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.' Ari was confused. _Their_ DADA teacher? What happened to _her_ DADA teacher?

'Yes, Miss Black, Harry will be joining you in your DADA classes. He has his own differences with Professor Snape that prevent him from reaching his full ability in that class. Ari nodded. _So that explains it,_ She thought.

'I brought you up here earlier than planned for a little 'meet-and-greet' session so that when your classes start you can go straight into your work.

'Harry,' said Kerrigan wistfully, 'you look so like your father, and you Arianna, you look so much like yours.'

'You knew our dads?' blurted out Harry. Kerrigan nodded.

'Yeah. James and I grew up together, and when he and Sirius became practically joined at the hip, it was inevitable that I spent a lot of time with him as well.'

'What about my mum? And Lily?' asked Arianna curiously. Kerrigan looked uncomfortable.

'Well… Anna and Lily were always the best of friends, but I never got on too well with either of them. I was a bit too… wild for them.'

'Oh.'

'Maybe, Annabel, You should tell them about what they are going to be doing in your class?' suggested Dumbledore.

'Yeah, okay. This isn't going to be a normal DADA class.' started Kerrigan.

'What do you mean?' asked Harry.

'You two are both prime targets for Voldemort. I will be teaching you all the basic things you need to know, but also things that will prove life-saving for you in the war. Martial arts, weapons and basic logic.'

'Professor Kerrigan is a Training Master.' explained Dumbledore, 'It is a career option open to those only with the very good connections and the people they train are restricted to mainly to Aurors and anyone with a very large bank account, but she has agreed to train you as a personal favour to me. Anything else you'd like to add, Annabel?

Kerrigan shook her head.

'No, I think you've pretty much covered it.'

'Good. You two are free to leave.' Ari and Harry stood up and exited the room.

'So what do you think?' Harry asked her as they waited for the revolving staircase to reach the bottom.

'What? About being trained how to punch someone in the face, stab someone with a knife and then think them to death?' she replied sarcastically. She still wasn't used to being nice to Potter. They came out of the stairs near the stone Gargoyle's and as they walked past, one of the gargoyle's stone wings brushed the back of Arianna's neck. She stopped and swayed on the spot for a minute before crumpling to the ground.


	16. Even more complications

A/N: finally I was bored enough to sit down and right my next chapter! I know I'm probably gonna get a lot of abuse from you guys after you read this. Sorry, Cliff-hangers are my new hobby. Not sure how many in a row this is now… Thanks again to Airri Phyler, my beta, and everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Reviews: Blah! There are so many to answer now…

**Lizanne89892: **Narcissa means 'To have a great self love.'

**Reader4ever:** Here's your update!

**Matuskey:** Thanks for taking the time to read it! Here's your update!

**Rohan Bernett:** Watch out for your character's mention in this chap!

**Mouse10:** Thanks!

**Airri Phyler:** My wonderful wonderful beta! It's always fun to read your reviews! Hopefully I edited this okay.

**Kyl:** You find out this chap, but not all is revealed. Hehe… I have lately become addicted to cliff hangers…

**SiriusSpikeLover:** yes, no, of course it is, of course he did, you'll find out later, you'll find out later and Thanks! Haha… you'll have to look back at your review so you know what I'm talking about!

**Scared-of-mimes:** Attack of the inanimate stone gargoyles! Lol, This chapter will either confuse you more, or explain a few things, I dunno…

**Don'tLetMeGetMe:** Maybe…. I think it's pretty obvious though. If you still don't know, read Airri Phyler's review from chap 15.

**PruePotter:** Yes, sorry. I've recently become addicted to cliffies. I'm trying to get over it!

**Gatermage:** therapeutic, yes, but nothing beats screaming your head off at unsuspecting strangers! I read your story, its good! Can't remember if I reviewed or not. If not, sorry, I'll review next chap!

Chapter 16 – Even more complications

Harry panicked. He didn't know what happened and he sure as hell didn't know what he was supposed to do. One minute she'd been sending a snappy, sarcastic comment his way and the next minute she was lying, crumpled on the floor. He yelled out.

'HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY! COME QUICKLY!'

Almost instantly, the stone gargoyles moved and Dumbledore and Kerrigan came running out. Dumbledore had his wand drawn, but Kerrigan, to his surprise, was holding a small, silver dagger.

'What happened?' Kerrigan's eyes were moving a mile a minute, surveying every inch of the corridor, and eerily reminding Harry of Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye.

She caught sight of Arianna's lifeless body and instantly ducked down and grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse.

'She's alive, but barely. We need to get her to the hospital wing.'

Dumbledore flicked his wand and instantly Arianna rose off the ground and floated in front of him. 'Come,' he said, 'You too, Harry.'

It was a strange procession. The headmaster, a floating, unconscious girl, a confused and worried teenage boy and a strange woman, still clutching a dagger. They attracted many curious glances, but Dumbledore and Kerrigan ignored them and Harry followed their lead.

When they finally reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey nearly had a fit.

'Quick! Get her into a bed!' she snapped. 'How on earth did this happen?'

Dumbledore turned to Harry. 'What happened to her?'

'I don't know! She just sort of… fell.'

'Did she hit her head on anything on the way down?' asked Pomfrey.

'No, well, I don't think so.' he frowned, 'She was just near that stone gargoyle when it happened.'

A look of comprehension dawned in Dumbledore's eyes.

'Roll her over,' he told Pomfrey, 'Onto her stomach.'

Madam Pomfrey hastened to do as he asked and rolled Arianna over onto her stomach. Dumbledore marched over to her bed swept the girls hair to the side to reveal the bare skin underneath. Except the skin was no longer bare. On the back of Arianna's neck was a scar, a perfectly symmetrical circle. The skin around it was now red and inflamed.

Harry gasped. What is that?' he asked.

'It is a curse scar,' said Dumbledore grimly, 'Very similar to your own, Harry, but slightly more common.'

Kerrigan moved closer to Arianna to examine the cut on the back of her neck.

'The Aedaficio curse?' she asked him. Dumbledore nodded gravely.

'Yes.'

'The gargoyle's outside your office – what are they made of, Dumbledore?'

'Limestone.'

'Ah.'

Harry was thoroughly confused, and it appeared that Madam Pomfrey was as well.

'What's the Aedaficio Curse?' she asked Dumbledore.

'The Life Draining curse. It is similar to Avada Kedavra but has a more delayed reaction. It will slowly drain the life from her body.'

Kerrigan frowned. 'Is there a cure?'

'Yes, but it is complicated. I will need to research it in more depth.'

'Will she be okay, Professor?' asked Harry.

Dumbledore nodded. 'If we can get an antidote ready in time, yes.'

Harry sighed in relief. 'Good 'cos Si- I mean uh... Snuffles would have killed me.' He stuttered, glancing nervously at Kerrigan and Pomfrey. Kerrigan gave Harry a knowing smile, but Madam Pomfrey remained oblivious.

'Are you sure about this, Headmaster? A mark on the back of the girl's neck is hardly enough to make a correct diagnosis.'

'Poppy, I am rarely sure about anything, but I am also rarely wrong. Keep her in bed and give her a Dissolutus potion every three hours. When she wakes up, alert me immediately.'

Pomfrey nodded and hurried into her office to collect the potion. Dumbledore turned to Kerrigan and gave her a small smile.

I do believe you can put that away now, Annabel,' he said, gesturing to the dagger in her hand. She blushed and slid it into her boot. Harry couldn't help but wonder how many other weapons she had concealed on her figure.

'Annabel, Can I ask you to visit headquarters and inform Sirius and Anna that I will be there to speak with them shortly? I believe it would do them good to see an old friend.'

Kerrigan nodded and Apparated away. Harry stared at the spot where she had been standing merely seconds before, and then turned to Dumbledore.

'How did she do that? I mean… aren't there wards on Hogwarts to stop people Apparating?'

Dumbledore waved off his question. 'Another time, Harry. Right now, we must attend to Miss Black's needs. I trust you will not tell anyone about what you have witnessed here today?'

Harry nodded.

'Good. And about your lessons; be very selective about who you tell. They are not strictly inside the law.' Harry grinned and nodded again. He left the hospital wing thinking that of all the illegal things he had known Dumbledore to have taken part in; a few advanced DADA courses would be near the bottom of the list.

He entered the common room to find Hermione and Ron playing chess. Hermione was losing.

'Checkmate,' said Ron smugly and Hermione groaned.

'That's the third time! Oh, hey Harry. What did Dumbledore want?'

A smile spread over Harry's face as he sat down beside her. 'No more Snape!' he whispered excitedly. Hermione and Ron's eyes widened.

'Did Black really scare him that badly?' asked Ron, 'Finally! We escape from the greasy git!'

Harry gave him a apologetic look. 'Sorry. I escape from the greasy git. You two still have to put up with him.'

'What- but… but- how is that fair?' spluttered Ron.

'You're only confusing him, Harry. Just tell us.' Hermione interrupted before Ron could make an even bigger fool of himself.

'Well,' Harry explained, 'After Black gave Snape what he deserved-' Ron sniggered and Hermione gave him a disapproving glare, '-Snape kicked her out of his class, so Dumbledore got her a private tutor. He decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to separate Snape and me either, so we're getting taught together.'

Hermione nodded. 'I expected something like this. Dumbledore knows that Snape wouldn't teach you properly, and now more than ever, it's very important that you get all the Defence training you can. Do you know who's teaching you?'

'Yeah, someone named… Kerrigan?'

Hermione's eyes widened. 'Are you sure? That wouldn't happen to be Annabel Kerrigan, would it?'

Harry nodded. 'Yeah. Why?'

'I think I recognise the name…' started Ron hesitantly. 'What did she do, Hermione?'

'She's a training master!'

Ron fell off his chair. 'A training master? You're getting taught by a training master?'

Harry glanced between the two of them, bewildered. 'Yeah, but I already knew that. What about it?'

'Training masters are the elite! The only people that can overrule them are the Ministers for Magic themselves, and in certain situations the training masters are given absolute control. In battle, for example. I didn't think there were any left!'

'Oh Ron, don't be silly!' snapped Hermione testily. 'There are about three left, but Annabel Kerrigan's the only one in England.'

Harry let out a low whistle. 'Well that explains a few things.'

'Like what?' asked Ron.

'Like why she carries around daggers in her shoes. And…'

'Yeah? What else, Harry?' asked Hermione excitedly.

Harry leaned in closer and the other two did the same.

'Well,' he whispered, 'She's not only teaching us DADA. She's also teaching us other things.'

'Like?' prompted Ron.

'Martial arts, weapons and logic.'

Hermione let out an excited squeal.

'Oh wow, Harry, you are so lucky! That's the stuff training masters teach to their clients who pay about 500 Galleons a lesson! This is such a great opportunity.'

Harry gave her a confused look. 'But you can get weapons and martial arts training in the muggle world really cheaply! Why is it so exclusive here?'

Hermione sighed. 'Don't you get it, Harry? In the non-magical world, weapons and martial arts are just that: non-magical! But in the wizarding world…'

'They're magical,' said Harry, 'I get it.'

Hermione nodded.

'You'll have to pay attention and try really hard,' she warned, 'not like your Occlumency lessons last year.'

Harry's stomach gave a guilty squirm. Slacking off with his Occlumency had nearly gotten all his friends, not to mention Sirius and the Order members, killed.

'Well, I –'

He was cut off when Ginny burst into the common room, gasping for breath.

'I just heard,' she announced to the whole common room, 'You-know-who's kidnapped a student!'

'Who?' asked someone in the crowd, 'It wasn't a Gryffindor was it?'

Ginny shook her head.

'No, it was a Ravenclaw. Rohan Bernett.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anna and Sirius were sitting in the lounge room of number twelve Grimmauld place, just enjoying each others company, when the door bell rang. Sirius stood up and motioned for Anna to stay seated.

'Don't worry,' he said, 'I'll get it.'

Sirius gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried out to the front hall. He opened the door to reveal the very last person he had been expecting to see.

'Bel?' he whispered in awe, 'What are you doing here?'

She gave him a small grin. 'Hello Sirius. Long time no see.'

He stared at her dumbly. 'But… What? How?'

She took a step inside the house. 'How about I come in and I can explain everything to you and Anna at once?'

Sirius's face hardened. 'How do I know you're not a Death Eater in disguise?'

Bel laughed. 'Okay Sirius. Ask me something only the real Annabel Kerrigan would know.'

He thought for a minute before answering. 'On our first day at Hogwarts; why did you decide to come and sit with me?'

'Because my parents told me not to,' Bel answered promptly.

Sirius her sceptical look. 'Wormtail could have told you that.'

Bel gave an exasperated sigh. 'Come on Sirius! I found the house, didn't I?'

'Dumbledore gave you the address?'

'Yes.'

'You're in the Order?'

'Yes.'

'How come you never come to Headquarters?'

'I'm here now.'

Sirius gave her one last sceptical look before sighing and standing aside.

'Fine. Come in, and you have to tell us everything.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bel had expected Sirius to be wary of her. After all these years, who wouldn't be? She followed him into the lounge room, where Anna was sitting on the couch. To tell the truth, Bel had been a bit worried about Anna's reaction to her being here. The last time they had seen each other, at the Potter's funeral, they hadn't exactly parted on the best terms. Anna looked up as Bel and Sirius entered the room. When she saw Bel, her face paled considerably and she gulped.

'Bel? W-what are you doing here?' she choked out.

Bel opened her mouth to answer but before she could get the words out, Anna let out a loud sob, leapt off the couch, ran up to them and threw her arms around Bel, hugging her tightly.

When she pulled away, Bel smiled at her. 'Well that was a warmer welcome then I expected.'

Anna blushed. 'It's good to see you. Come, sit down,' she directed Bel over to one couch and she and Sirius sat on the couch opposite it.

'So, you've done quite well for yourself,' said Anna, 'Training Master? I couldn't believe it when I heard your name on the WWN.'

Bel shrugged. 'It pays the bills.'

Anna and Sirius gaped at her.

'It- It pays the bills?' stuttered Sirius, a look of obvious exasperation on his face, 'Bel, you must be a bloody gazillionaire!'

Bel waved it off. 'Later,' she told them, 'Right now I need to talk to you about Arianna.'

Sirius stood up off the couch. 'Has she attacked another teacher? Because if she has…' he cracked his knuckles threateningly.

'She attacked a teacher?' asked Bel and Anna in unison, although Bel definitely sounded more amused, 'Who?'

Sirius paled. 'Uhh… nothing…not important… Snape...'

Bel laughed and Anna clenched her fists.

'Did he try and hurt her? It must have been self-defense! She wouldn't have done it unless she really had to… oh damn,' finished Anna with a sigh.

'What?' asked Sirius.

'I just realised. She's your daughter. She really did attack Snape without good reason, didn't she?'

Bel quickly turned her laugh into a hacking cough and Sirius tried his best to look innocent.

'It's okay, though! She's not in trouble or anything! Dumbledore got her out of it!'

'That's not the point! She has got to learn that violence is not the answer!'

'But he provoked her!'

'She shouldn't have let him!'

'He's a greasy git!'

Bel could see that the conversation was quickly turning dangerous and decided to intervene before Sirius lost his ability to have more children.

'Uh, guys? If we're all over Snape getting beat up by a fifteen year old girl-' Sirius sniggered and Anna forced back a smile, 'then I need to inform you that there's been an… accident. An accident involving Arianna. Don't worry though,' she said quickly, upon seeing their faces, 'Dumbledore's sorting it out. She should be okay. In fact, he should be here by now-'

She was cut off as there was a burst of flames in front of them, and Fawkes the phoenix appeared, a roll of parchment tied to his leg. He held it out to Bel, and she quickly untied it and unrolled the parchment.

_Annabel,_

_Voldemort has taken a student. We need your assistance as soon as possible. Meet me in my office now._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Bel's face hardened as she read the note, and she felt a sickening jolt in the pit of her stomach. Voldemort had never breached Hogwarts walls before. The old bastard had to be stopped. Bel felt anger bubble up inside her, but she forced it down and put on an expressionless face.

'I need to go,' she muttered to Sirius and Anna. 'Emergency at Hogwarts,' and without another thought, Annabel Kerrigan Disapparted.


	17. Forming Theories

A/N: Omg how long has it been since I replied to this story? Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry… I actually wrote this chapter MONTHS ago, and sent it to my wonderful beta, but it didn't send for some reason.. and then I sent it a second time and she emailed it back, all beta's and shiny, and for some reason I procrastinated putting it up. I'm sorry, but I hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own hp… obviously, but all subplots, twists and OC's are mine xD

Reviews: sorry, but responding to reviews via the story isn't really a good idea seeing as there are reply thingy's now… I'll respond to each review by that system starting next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I love you all!

Chapter 17 – Forming Theories

Sirius stared at the patch of carpet that, mere seconds ago, Bel had occupied. He turned to Anna.

'What do you think happened at Hogwarts?' he asked grimly, 'You don't think it was anything to do with Ari, do you?'

Anna shook her head, 'No, Bel would have told us.'

Then she gasped.

'Damn. I have to go. Bel said there had been an accident… Oh, I should have gone straight away! I'm a horrible mother…' Anna rushed out of the room to the front hallway where she grabbed her jacket and ran out the door.

Sirius shut the door behind her and then walked slowly back to the lounge room. He stopped in front of the coffee table and stood there for a minute, dazed.

Suddenly, Sirius let out a snarl and kicked out at the coffee table. Why couldn't he go anywhere? Why couldn't he go and see if Ari was okay? He was her father! But no, Dumbledore had to keep him locked up in this stupid house! At that fight in the Department of Mysteries last June, he had almost been caught when he was knocked out by Bellatrix's curse and ministry officials came running in merely minutes later, but the Longbottom kid managed to drag him out of site just in time, and Kingsley had Apparated the unconscious Sirius away.

Sirius looked around at the dank walls, obvious disdain showing on his face. It was bad enough being locked up at all, but he just had to be stuck here. It was like being fifteen all over again. Forbidden to leave the house, forbidden to associate with anyone not in a _select group._ Forbidden to live.

Giving the coffee table one last kick, Sirius left the lounge and headed for the kitchen. What he needed right now was a bottle of firewhisky. Extra strong.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bel Apparated into Dumbledore's office with a faint _pop_. Dumbledore was already there, pacing around the room. He looked up at her, worry and anger evident in his normally twinkling blue eyes.

Bel strode over to him.

'Who was it, Professor?'

Dumbledore gave her a grave look.

'Rohan Bernett of Ravenclaw.'

He handed her a fat parchment envelope.

'Everything we know is in there. I trust you will give it your full attention?'

Bel nodded, 'You have my word.'

Dumbledore gave her a small smile.

'I know you will. I'll let you get started,' He gave her a curt nod, which she returned.

Bel stuffed the envelope in the pocket of her robes and disapparated.

She reappeared in her office at the ministry moments later. Her secretary greeted her warmly, but Bel brushed her off.

'Go home,' Bel said briskly and then stormed into her office and slammed the door. The office was comfortable and luxurious, a bright and happy room, but frankly, Bel hated it. Her job was high-rank, yes, but it was also important to the safety of the wizarding world, and she didn't believe she should be distracted by trivial things such as silk curtains and plush carpet. She'd been planning to rip ll of that out, but Bel never got around to it. There were more important things to do. Finding that kid, for instance.

She pulled her hair back out of her face and sat down at her desk. She violently yanked the envelope Dumbledore had given to her out of her robes and ripped it open. Out fell several bits of paper. The first was just a report of the Bernett kid's grades from the last few years, and Bel put that aside to look at later. Secondly she picked up a photo of the boy. He looked to be about fifteen years old, and was fairly thin looking with curly brown hair and grey eyes. After studying the picture closely, Bel tacked it up on her pin board and picked up the next document. It was a quick report that Dumbledore had obviously thrown together for her.

_Name: Rohan Bernett_

_Age: 15_

_Year: 5_

_House: Ravenclaw_

_Reported Missing: 04:32pm September 3rd_

_Last seen: In the Charms classroom 12:46 pm _

_Last seen by: Filius Flitwick_

_Family: (Muggles) _

Bel sighed and put down the piece of parchment, rubbing her head. If the kid was in Ravenclaw, it was unlikely that he'd have wanted to miss a class, so presumably he'd disappeared sometime during lunch. With all the security measures that had been put on the castle, including the aurors patrolling the perimeter, it was unlikely that he'd gone outside the castle gates. Therefore he had to have been kidnapped from inside the castle. But how did a Death Eater get into Hogwarts? With the new security, which Bel herself had checked over, it was damn near impossible…

But that was exactly it!

It was impossible for a Death Eater to get into Hogwarts, but what if the Death Eater was already there? What if it was a student?

Bel frowned. She certainly couldn't eliminate the possibility that some of the upper level Slytherins had received the Mark. But if the Bernett kid had disappeared at lunch time, any student Death Eater wouldn't have had time to get past the security to get a prisoner out of the castle. To have done that, they would have needed to skip their afternoon classes.

Bel pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of her draw and began to write.

_Professor,_

_I need a copy of all your teachers' class rolls from this afternoon. I need to know if any upper level students, particularly Slytherins_,_ were absent from any classes._

_-A.K_

Bel quickly rolled up the note and handed it to her owl.

'Professor Dumbledore,' she said shortly. The animal gave her a quick nip on the finger before taking off out the window.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anna arrived at Hogwarts and rushed to the Hospital wing. She was already running late because of all the time it had taken her to get past the Aurors at the gates. In fact, she doubted she would have gotten through at all if Tonks hadn't come to her rescue and let her in.

Anna didn't know exactly what had happened in the 'accident' but she knew her daughter, and judging by Ari's record, she'd probably be in the Hospital Wing.

Anna burst through the door of the Hospital Wing and, luckily, Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. A few of the beds were occupied, but the curtains were drawn around all of them.

Anna ran up to the closest bed and yanked the curtains back. It wasn't Ari. Sitting up on the bed was a bewildered looking blonde boy. He gave her a questioning look.

'Yes?' he asked her expectantly.

Under any other circumstances Anna would have started blushing and apologizing profusely, but right now she was too worried about Ari. She muttered a quick apology and moved on to the next bed. She pulled back the curtains and, this time, was successful. Anna almost fainted at the sight of her daughter.

Arianna was lying back in the bed, still unconscious. Her normally tan skin was pale and waxy. She was sweaty all over and looking exhausted. Anna forced her mothering instinct to the back of her mind and switched herself into full healer mode.

She checked Ari's pulse and wiped the sweat of her brow. She was just about to change Ari out of her sweat-soaked robe when she was interrupted.

'What do you think you're doing?' came a demanding voice from behind her.

Anna whipped around and found herself face to face with the Hogwarts hospital matron.

'Madam Pomfrey, It's me, Anna-May Morgan. Arianna is my daughter. Could you please explain what happened to her?'

Madam Pomfrey relaxed visibly. '

'Ah yes. Anna, it's good to see you. As for your daughter, I have absolutely no idea. You'll have to speak to Dumbledore. All he told me was to keep giving her energy potions and to inform him when she wakes.'

Anna sighed.

'Do you know if she'll be okay?'

Madame Pomfrey gave her a pitying look.

'Well, as I said, Anna, I don't know what's wrong with her, but I have to say… she doesn't look too good. Her heart rate won't slow down, her blood pressure's high… We can only hope. Professor Dumbledore has never let us down before on these matters.'

Anna fought back a sob and sat on the chair next to Ari's bedside.

'Do you have any idea when she'll wake up?' she asked in a choked voice.

'I think she'll be out for another few days at the least.'

Anna couldn't hold it any more. She burst into tears and buried her head in her hands. Madam Pomfrey, realising Anna needed her privacy, gave her a reassuring pat on the back and then disappeared into her office.

Anna sat there crying at Arianna's bedside. How could this have happened? What had happened?

'Mum…' A distant and croaky voice, so faint that Anna almost thought she had imagined it came from the bed.

'Mum…'

Anna's head shot up and stared at the bed in front of her. Arianna was lying there, in the exact same rigid position as before, but her eyes had opened slightly and her lips were moving, trying to form words.

'Mum…'

Anna let out a shout of joy. Arianna was awake.

Anna quickly called the matron over and Madam Pomfrey hurried out of her office, a look of complete surprise on her face.

'Well I'll be,' she muttered, 'I have to get the headmaster. She hurried back her office to floo call Dumbledore.

Madam Pomfrey threw the floo powder into the fireplace and muttered 'Dumbledore's office'. She stuck her head into the emerald green flames and soon she was staring at Dumbledore's office from knee height.

Dumbledore himself was pacing around the office, looking distracted.

'Headmaster,' Madam Pomfrey called out, 'She's awake.'


End file.
